Transcript Imperialism and World War I

Ch. 11: America & the
World and Ch. 12: World
War I
Section 11.1: Expansion in the Pacific
 The Impulse for Imperialism
 Imperialism: the quest for colonial empires brought
most Western nations into competition for territory,
trade routes, & raw materials in Africa, Asia, and
Latin America
 Senator Henry Lodge fought for the United States to join
the European powers in imperialism to colonize lands for
the US
 Alfred Mahan of the US Naval War College argued that
the US needed a strong navy to protect its economic
interests in foreign markets
 Others claimed the US should colonize to spread its
system of gov’t & Christianity
 The US gains control of Western Samoa in 1899 AD
Section 11.1: Expansion in the Pacific
 Acquiring Hawaii
 Hawaiian chief Kamehameha united the 8 major islands as
the Kingdom of Hawaii; the monarchy lasts until 1893 AD
 The Hawaiian Islands could serve as a good location for a naval base
 Many in the US wanted to introduce industry & Christianity to Hawaii
 American Influence
 In the 1820s, American Protestant missionaries came to islands to
spread the faith; they also settled on the islands
 American investors making money in sugar cane on the islands grew
in power over the islands and brought in Chinese & Japanese
laborers to work for them
 The Chinese and Japanese soon outnumbered the Hawaiians
 Soon American industrialists controlled trade on the islands and were
able to influence King Kalakaua
 In 1887: the Hawaiian League (some 400 American businesspeople,
traders and planters) forced the king at gunpoint to sign a new
constitution, which gave them the real power and made the monarch
a figurehead
Section 11.1: Expansion in the Pacific
 Acquiring Hawaii continued
 When King Kalakaua died, his sister Liliuokalani took the
throne promises to take Hawaii back for the Hawaiians
 She began working toward replacing the forced constitution (Bayonet
Constitution) with one that would return power to native Hawaiians
 In response, Americans in support of the US annexing Hawaii occupied
the gov’t and declared the monarchy ended
 This new gov’t then requested the US annex Hawaii
 President Cleveland refused and wanted to restore the monarchy
but refused to use military force to do so
 In the end, the president recognized the new gov’t in Hawaii but
refused to annex Hawaii
 When President McKinley took power, he approved of the annexation
and on July 7, 1898 against the wishes of most native Hawaiians the
US annexed the islands
 Hawaii became a territory in 1900 and the 50th state in 1959
 In 1993, the US gov’t apologized for its rule in getting rid of the queen
Section 11.1: Expansion in the Pacific
 US Involvement in China
 Spheres of Influence
 In 1843, China opened five ports of trade w/ the US and
Europe
 After a conflict with Japan weakened China, the
Europeans moved in and carved out spheres of influence
(regions where certain countries had exclusive rights over
mines, railroads, & trade) in China
 The Open Door Policy
 In 1899 Secretary of State John Jay called for an open
door policy, which would give all nations equal access to
trade & investment in China
 The policy called for all ports being open to everyone, Chinese
officials be allowed to collect duties and tariffs, and equal
transportation rates for all nations in any sphere
Section 11.1: Expansion in the Pacific
 US Involvement in China continued
 Boxer Rebellion
 Chinese resentment of foreign control manifested into the
secret society, the Fists of Righteous Harmony (the
Boxers), who attacked missionaries & traders in 1900
killing 200
 The Boxer Rebellion supported by some in the Chinese gov’t had
begun and foreign powers responded in force sending in troops
 The fearing Japan may enter the fray to take more Chinese
land requested a new open door policy where China was still
able to rule its land, but was an open trade zone for foreign
powers
 In the end, China had to pay the Western powers $333
million in damages
Section 11.1: Expansion in the Pacific
 An emerging Japan
 In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry was sent by
the US gov’t to persuade Japan to open to trade w/
the US
 Japan fearing retribution from the Western World caved
and agreed to open to trade, but spend the next few
years industrializing and building a navy and army to
defend herself
 Japan went to war with Russia in 1904 and was winning
many battles
 President Roosevelt intervened and worked out a peace between
the two nations earning him a Nobel Peace Award
 Japan was now a rival to the US for trade control
into the Pacific Ocean & China
Section 11.2: War with Spain
 Conflict in Cuba
 Since 1886, Cubans had unsuccessfully rebelled against
Spain
 In 1895 another rebellion occurred & the Spanish send General
Valeriano Weyler in 1896 to crush.
 Weyler forces Cuban farmers into concentration camps so they can’t
help the rebels
 200,000 die from disease and starvation
 The US reacts
 Many American saw similarities between the Cuban struggle
and the American Revolution
 American journalists used yellow journalism (a type of journalism that
presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses
eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers) presenting the
American public with stories of countless Spanish atrocities on the
Cuban people
Section 11.2: War with Spain
 The US reacts continued
 The Maine Incident
 President McKinley refused to give into the warmongering
of the newspapers as he had served in the civil war and
knew war was indeed hell
 When a paper published a letter had the Spanish minister to
America call the president weak, the nation was outraged & the
nation was on the brink of war
 The battleship USS Maine is sent to Havana, Cuba to protect US
interests and lives
 On February 15, the Maine exploded killing 260 sailors and
every newspaper declared it the work of the Spanish
 In reality, most likely a coal bin fire caused the explosion
 With this incident, McKinley asked and received a declaration of
war on April 25; the Spanish-American war had begun
Section 11.2: War with Spain
 War with Spain
 Congress adopted the Teller Amendment, which
declared the US would leave Cuban people in
control of their gov’t & its territory
 Fighting in the Philippines
 At dawn on 5/1/1898: Commodore George Dewey sailed
to the Philippines and opened fire on Spanish forces
easily defeating them
 To capture the city of Manila, Dewey’ forces worked with a
Pilipino rebel army under Emilio Aguinaldo
 The Spanish in the Philippines surrendered on 8/14/1898
Section 11.2: War with Spain
 War with Spain continued
 Fighting in Cuba
 The US army was only 28,000 strong & it was untrained and had
uniforms not suited for tropical climates
 Teddy Roosevelt has resigned as Assistant Secretary of the Nay to
enlist, he led a cavalry unit to garrison San Juan Hill
 Teddy’s Rough Riders consisted of college athletes, cowboys, American
Indians, and ranchers
 On July 3, the US fleet sank the Spanish fleet off of Cuba resulting in
400+ Spanish causalities, the Spanish on Cuba surrendered,
meanwhile Puerto Rico surrendered as well
 The war was costly for Spain and they sued for peace
 In the peace treaty, Spain released Cuba, gave the US Puerto Rico,
Guam, and the Philippines (we had to pay $20 million for them)
 The USA was now an imperial power, but at the cost of 5,400 dead
soldiers
Section 11.2: War with Spain
 Uproar over the Philippines
 The debate
 Some argued that it was wrong to annex a foreign
territory & rule its gov’t & its people
 Expansionists favored taking the Philippines as did
business people as the islands could serve as a fuel
station for trade ships to Asia from the US
 Other said denying the Philippines independence would
violate the ideals of the Declaration of Independence
 In 1898, they created the Anti-Imperialist League
 In the end after fierce debate, the Congress passed the
treaty annexing the Philippines on 2/6/1899
Section 11.2: War with Spain
 Uproar over the Philippines continued
 Conquest & early rule
 Rebel leader Emilio Aguinaldo had already set up a provisional gov’t
and declared himself president when the US returned to take
controlled
 For the next three years, US forces fought Aguinaldo’s forces for
control of the Island
 In 1902, the rebellion was crushed with at least a 100,000 Filipinos and
4,000 US soldiers dead
 That same year, the US passed the Philippine Government Act,
which created a governor and two-house legislature to rule the
Philippines
 The US appointed the governor and members of the upper house,
while Filipinos elected the members of the lower house
 In 1916, The Jones Act allowed members from both houses to be
elected
 7/4/1946: The US gave the Philippines Independence
Section 11.3: Expansion in Latin America
 Governing Cuba and Puerto Rico
 Military governors were chosen for Cuba & Puerto
Rico
 Leonard Wood, military governor of Cuba oversaw the
drafting of a constitution for Cuba that limited Cuba
independence because of the Platt Amendment (Cuba
became a protectorate of the US and had to give the US
land in Guantanamo Bay to create a naval base their)
 As a protectorate, Cuba’s foreign policy was controlled by the
United States
 The Foraker Act of 1900 established Puerto Rico’s
governor and upper house to be appointed by the US and
members of the lower house were elected
 The Jones Act allowed for members of both houses to be elected
and gave Puerto Ricans US citizenship
Section 11.3: Expansion in Latin America
 The Panama Canal
 The US wants to build a canal across Central
America to cut travel time between the Eastern and
Western coasts of the US
 Early Steps towards a Canal
 A French company were working on a canal in the
Isthmus of Panama, but due to loss of life and cost quit
 The US tried to lease the land for 99 years offering $10
million and a yearly rental fee of $250,00 to complete the
canal from Columbia, which owned Panama, but
Columbia held out for a better deal
 President Roosevelt was furious and promised to make
Columbia pay
Section 11.3: Expansion in Latin America
 The Panama Canal continued
 Revolution in Panama
 When Panamanian rebels arose, US marines were sent
in to prevent Columbia from crushing the rebellion
 The rebels then declared Panama independent and set
up a government
 Roosevelt immediately recognized Panama as independent a
negotiated a treaty for the canal
 The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty gave the US complete control
of the 10-mile strip of land the canal would be located at
 Building the Canal
 Harsh conditions and labor shortages hampered the effort
as did a break out of yellow fever
 Working resumed in 1913 at full steam and on August 15, 1914
the SS Ancon was the first ship to crush the canal
Section 11.3: Expansion in Latin America
 Relations with Latin America
 Applying the Monroe Doctrine
 In 1823: The Monroe Doctrine made the US protector of
the Western Hemisphere, but the US did not have the
military power to enforce this role
 After the Spanish-American War, the US had the power
needed to enforce the doctrine
 The Roosevelt Corollary
 When the Dominican Republic could not repay its loans to
European lenders, Roosevelt declared the Roosevelt
Corollary, which said that it would prevent any European
nations from seizing Latin American territory from nations
that could not repay debts
 When civil unrest erupted in the Dominican Republic in 1946, the
US sent in marines that remained until 1924
Section 11.3: Expansion in Latin America
 Relations with Latin America continued
 Dollar diplomacy
 President Taft declared he would “substituting dollars for bullets”, i.e.
the US would use its economic influence not military force to impact
events in Latin America, this concept is called dollar diplomacy
 By 1914, American capital in Latin America had grown to over 1.6 billion
invested in mines, railroads, and plantations
 The Us helped Nicaragua get private loans in return the US gets the
right to send troops into their country when US business interests were
at risk
 President Wilson sent marines to several countries to put down
rebellions & establish constitutional governments
 In 1915, Wilson sent troops to Haiti to crush a rebellion and then forced
the government to allow the US to run the country
 US troops stayed until 1936 and 1,500 Haitians died resisting US
control
Section 11.4: Conflict w/ Mexico
 Mexico under Diaz
 Purfirio Diaz takes power in Mexico in 1877 after 66
years of unrest & war
 Mexico is in rough shape; crime & violence are
widespread & the nations was in a poor financial state
 Diaz crushes his opponents to restore order
 With order, foreign investors came into Mexico aiding it in
industrializing
 By 1913, $2 billion of foreign investments were in Mexico
 Diaz and the investors were the primary beneficiaries of the
money not the common Mexican
Section 11.4: Conflict w/ Mexico
 The Mexican Revolution
 In 1910: Diaz won reelection to an 8th term as president using force and
fraud
 In southern Mexico, Emiliano Zapata led a rebel army of American
Indians to oppose the dictatorship of Diaz
 In Northern Mexico, a wealthy landowner, Francisco Madero’s, an
idealist and dreamer, ideas for reform inspired the Mexican Revolution
 In the Revolution, rebel forces defeated Diaz’s forces throughout Mexico and
in the capital mobs roamed the streets forcing Diaz to resign in 1911
 Madero wins Mexico’s first democratic election in 30 years and tried to
create a democratic government alongside the rebel leaders
 The nephew of Diaz rebels against Madero in 1913 leading to another
bloodbath and in the midst of this chaos, General Victoriano Huerta seized
power
 Huerta imprisoned Madero, who would die in prison, but rebel forces
fought against Huerta under the leadership of Venustiano Carranza &
Pancho Villa but their factions were independent of each other
Section 11.4: Conflict w/ Mexico
 US Intervention
 Angered by Madero’s apparent murder, President Wilson
refused to recognize the gov’t of Huerta what he called a
“gov’t of butchers,” lifted the US embargo on selling
weapons to rebels and waited to see what would happen
 Tampico
 4/9/1914: The USS Dolphin stationed in Mexican waters allowed
some sailors to go ashore where they were arrested by Huerta’s
forces
 Although the US sailors were released quickly, Wilson requested
from Congress the ability to use force against Huerta’s forces
 The occupation of Veracruz
 To prevent a German shipment of weapons to Huerta, Wilson ordered
the US Navy to occupy the port of Veracruz on April 21
 300 Mexicans died as did 19 Marines
 Rebel forces were closing in on Huerta and in July, he resigned and
fled to Spain
Section 11.4: Conflict w/ Mexico
 The Revolution Winds Down
 Mexico is in political chaos in 1915 with rebel
factions under Villa and Emilio Zapata controlling
nearly 2/3s of Mexico
 Rebel leader Carranza enters Mexico city and proclaims
himself provisional president and promised to protect US
lives, which gave him recognition from the US
 Pancho Villa’s raid
 Villa’s forces were defeated at the hands of Carranza’s
forces
 Villa disbands most of his forces, but wants revenge on the US
for supporting Carranza, so he and a small band raid a town in
New Mexico; 17 Americans died
Section 11.4: Conflict w/ Mexico
 The Revolution Winds Down continued
 Pursuing Pancho Villa
 Wilson sends troops under General Pershing to Mexico w/out
Carranza’s permission to capture Villa “dead or alive”
 These 15,000 troops traveled across Mexico as Villa alluded them and
the Mexican population resented the American presence
 With war with Mexico a real chance with US troops in Mexico and on the
border with Mexico, Wilson removed US forces from the country in 1917
 Carranza in power
 Carranza gets a new constitution approved in February 1917
 The constitution outlawed child labor, forced an eight hour work day for
all employees, allowed unions to form & bargain legally, and gave the
Mexican gov’t ownership of all mineral, oil, and water in the country.
Section 12.1: WWI Breaks Out
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Preliminary Causes
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Alliance Systems
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Militarism
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In 1882, Germany formed an alliance with Italy and Austria-Hungry
called the Triple Alliance. Germany and Austria-Hungry would fight
together in the Great War as the Central Powers.
In 1893, France formed an alliance with Russia and then with
Britain in 1904 creating a loose alliance called the Triple Entente.
These three world powers would fight together during World War I
as the Allies.
Militarism is the glorification of the military and helped to feed the
arms race between the European powers.
The nation that served as the model for militarism was Germany
Imperialism
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Imperialism is a policy a nation adopts to create for itself an empire.
The European powers fought over who would gain control of the
most colonies, especially colonies in Africa.
Section 12.1: WWI Breaks Out
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Preliminary Causes continued
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Nationalism
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Nationalism is devotion to one’s nation.
Aggressive and extreme nationalism was present in Germany and France.
Serbia a newly created nation had a boost in nationalism and wanted to
unite all Serbs under one nation including the Serbs in the Austrian
territory of Bosnia.
Greece and Bulgaria has recently declared independence from the
Ottoman Empire
Final Cause
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He was the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungry.
He was assassinated by a Serbian terrorist named Gavrilo Princip.
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Princip killed Ferdinand and his wife because he wanted Bosnia to become a
part of Serbia.
Austria-Hungry gave Serbia several demands and when they refused,
Austria-Hungry declared war.
Within days, the alliances kicked in bringing Germany unto the side of
Austria-Hungry and Russia, France, and Great Britain unto the side of
Serbia, WWI had begun.
Section 12.1: WWI Breaks Out

Strategies
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Germany’s military strategy called for a massive strike against France
going through neutral Belgium to defeat it quickly
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Thus leaving British forces stranded on the other side of the English
Channel, thus allowing Germany to focus on defeating Russia (The
Schlieffan Plan)
Reaction to war
The outbreak of war temporarily had people forget about
domestic problems.
Super-patriotism overflowed in the nations going off to war.
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War was seen as a great adventure.
Crowds gathered to cheer their soldiers to battle.
Many believed the war would be over before Christmas.
There was a massive rush to enlist.
Propaganda
More Propaganda
Section 12.1: WWI Breaks Out
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Stalemate
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The German Army had advanced within 20 miles of Paris
after crushing a large resistance from Belgian forces only to
be sent back 40 miles after losing the Battle of the Marne
However, due to the new technologies that included poison
gas, machine guns, and trench warfare a stalemate took
hold.
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Neither side would make any large advances until 1917
Section 12.1: WWI Breaks Out
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Trench Warfare
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Trenches were dug in zigzag patterns.
Soldiers lived out in the open
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“No man’s land”
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They shared their food with rats and other vermin.
Common infections included dysentery, typhus, and cholera.
The area of land between two enemy trenches that neither side wishes to
openly move on or take control of due to fear of being attacked by the
enemy in the process.
German targeted the French city of Verdun and bombarded
the city for 21 hours
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1 million Germans battled for months with 200,000 French defenders
Battle of the Somme
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British forces had 60,000 causalities and some million casualties total
for all sides
Trench Warfare
Trench Warfare continued
Section 12.1: WWI Breaks Out
 New Weapons
 Deadly new weapons added to the horror of trench
warfare
 The tank
 Poison gas
 Released as a mist that silently drifted over the trenches
 Could also be launched inside an exploding shell
 Submarines
 Slipped silently beneath waves to sink commercial and military ships
w/ little or no warning
 Airplanes
 Airplane pilots engaged enemies in aerobatic dogfights
 Most famous pilot, the Red Barron of Germany that shot down 80
pilots/planes
 Top American pilot was Edward Rickenbacker with 26 kills
Section 12.2: America Goes to War
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US Neutrality
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Most Americans saw the war as a European affair and so President
Wilson declares neutrality (US does not pick sides, sits on the
sidelines)
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Most Americans supported the Allies and Britain in particular as we
share a common language and culture
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Wilson hoped he could negotiate a peace
British propaganda also did a good job at showing the Germans as brutal
killers
The British blockade of Germany stopped and searched US ships for
supplies that might go to Germany
Germany used submarine (u-boats) to sink British vessels and supply
ships bound for Britain
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A German u-boat fires at the British liner, Lusitania sinking it and killing 128
Americans
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President Wilson threatens to cut off diplomatic ties with Germany
Germany claimed they warned Americans not to travel on vessels going to the
warzone and that the Lusitania was carrying weapons for Britain
Germany halts unrestricted u-boat warfare after protests from the U.S (Sussex
Pledge)
Section 12.2: America Goes to War
 The Road to War
 Large banks loan millions of dollars to Britain & France
 By 1916, US arm sales to the Allies reached $500 million
 Preparedness & peace
 1916: Wilson launches a preparedness plan
 National Defense Act (June 1916): increased the number of soldiers in
the regular army from 90,000 to 175,000
 Wilson established the national guard size at 450,000
 Congress sets aside $313 million for naval construction
 Running on the slogan “He kept us out of war” Wilson narrowly wins
reelection
 Wilson offers the warring nations his mediation to end the war, “Peace
w/out Victory”
 They refuse as Wilson wanted no one side to gain anything from the
war
Section 12.2: America Goes to War
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The Road to War continued
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Diplomatic relations broken
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On 2/1/1917, The German Government announces it will resume
unrestricted submarine warfare
Wilson threatens cutting off diplomatic relations & arming US
merchant ships
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Great Britain intercepts the Zimmerman telegram from Germany,
which told the German minster in Mexico to try to convince Mexico
to join Germany in declaring war on the U.S.
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Germany u-boats sink 5 American ships
Wilson now requests a declaration of war
Congress declares war
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4/4/1917: The Senate declares war and two days later the House
does as well
Section 12.2: America Goes to War
 Mobilizing US military power
 Recruiting an army
 Selective Service Act (May 1917)
 Required all men 21 to 30 years old to register w/ local draft
boards, later the age range was 18-45 years old
 24 million men will register; 2.8 million men will be drafted, which
was half the total fighting force
 The service of 10,000 American Indians convinced
Congress to grant all American Indians citizenship
 More than 370,000 African Americans served, but were
forced to serve kitchen duty in the navy, could not be
Marines, & most blacks served in segregated units in the
army
Section 12.2: America Goes to War
 Mobilizing US military power continued
 Training the troops
 In the summer of 1917, workers began building barracks at 16 separate
locations; the task was completed in 60 days
 Upon arrival at training camp, recruits were medically examined and then
spent their time exercising, drilling w/ equipment, and learning military rules
 Over There
 Well the country mobilized, US forces began going to France in June
1917 as part of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), which included
the regular army, national guard, & new recruits under the Command of
General Pershing
 On July 4, 1917, thousands of “Yanks” (US soldiers) marched through
Paris to great cheers and celebrations
 As the week went by, more US troops arrived in France
 Some 10,000 American women worked in army hospitals or Red Cross
hospitals
 Escorted by US warships, merchant vessels brought troops, supplies,
and volunteers through U-boat infested waters (The Convoy System)
 US ships laid more than 60,000 mines to stop U-boat attacks
Section 12.3: The War at Home
 Mobilizing the Nation
 Directing the economy
 The gov’t raised money through Liberty and Victory bonds
 Posters, parades, and rallies promoted each bond issue
 Congress increased taxes on business income and large personal
income getting almost $10 billion in revenue for the war effort
 The gov’t coordinated the actions of industry for the war effort
through war boards that set prices, regulated business, and set levels
of production
 Conserving resources
 Food Administration
 War board under the control of Herbert Hoover that had two goals:
increasing agriculture production & conserve the food supply
 Hoover guaranteed high prices for agricultural products, thus causing
farm production to soar
 Hoover called for wheatless and meatless days and the planting of
victory gardens to supplement the loss of wheat & meat
 Fuel Administration
 War board under Harry Garfield that called for heatless Mondays
Section 12.3: The War at Home
 Mobilizing the Nation continued
 Organizing industry
 War Industries Board (WIB): coordinated all the different war boards
and was responsible for allocating scare materials, establishing
production priorities, and setting prices
 Mobilizing Workers
 Millions of paid employees and volunteers pitched in for the
war effort
 Organized labor
 With so many workers off to war and immigration nearly halted,
businesses were short on labor, unions used this crisis to strike and
get better working conditions
 National War Labor Board (NWLB) created by Wilson in 1918
 Settled disputes between business and labor, mostly in labor’s favor
 More woman entered the workforce during the war and took on
traditionally male jobs such as carpentry and automobiles mechanics
 Some 1.5 million women worked in industry during the war
Section 12.3: The War at Home
 Mobilizing Workers continued
 Volunteerism
 Intense patriotism swept the country
 Americans voluntarily conserved energy, recycled essential materials,
purchased war bonds, and planted victory gardens
 The Girl Scouts formed during the war and grew due to its dedication
to helping the mobilization and conservation needed during wartime
 The Great Trek North
 Some 150,000 men and women migrated from Mexico to the
US to fill war labor shortages
 The Great Migration
 When hundreds of thousands of African Americans left the South to
seek northern war jobs and escape discrimination
 The North provided better job opportunities but racial discrimination and
violence was in the North as well
Section 12.3: The War at Home
 Influencing Attitudes
 For many reasons, many Americans believed we should
have stayed out of the war
 To get all Americans on board with supporting the war,
Wilson creates the Committee on Public Information (CPI),
which would release propaganda to get Americans on board
with the war effort
 Germans made out to be savages and monsters
 Hollywood joined in making movies like The Kaiser, the
Beast of Berlin
 American Protective League
 Group of Americans that spied on, tapped phones, and opened mail
of people they suspected to be spies
 Anti-German sentiment
 Sauerkraut became liberty cabbage and hamburger became
Salisbury steak
 German Americans were harassed and some lost their jobs
 German music wasn’t played & German books taken off the shelves
Section 12.3: The War at Home
 Suppressing Opposition
 Quakers who opposed the use of violence to solve
problems were considered traitors by many and
experienced violence and abuse
 To silence opposition, Congress passed the
Espionage Act (1917) and Sedition Act (1918)
 These acts outlawed acts of treason & made it a crime to
“utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal or abusive
language” criticizing the gov’t, the flag, or the military
 Opposition to the draft or the arms industry also became a crime
 More than 1,000 people including 200 union members were
convicted of violating the acts
 Socialist leader Eugene W. Debs was sentenced to 10 years
for speaking against the war
Section 12.4: The War’s End & Aftermath
 The End of the War
 In 1917 with Fresh American soldiers, the Allies
made a major offensive to break the stalemate; it
fails breaking shaky Allied moral
 The French forces are then dominated by mutinies
 Revolution in Russia
 The war had gone poorly for the Russians and prices for
bread were extremely high to the point where mobs in the
capital forced the overthrow of the czar (ruler)
 A civil war break outs and Bolsheviks (communists) under
Vladimir Lenin take power and make peace with Germany
in March 1918 allowing Germany to send all its forces in
the East to the Western Front
Section 12.4: The War’s End & Aftermath

The End of the War continued

Germany’s Last Bid for Victory

March 21, 1918: 1 million German soldiers launch a huge offensive against
the allies pushing the Allies back to 50 miles north of Paris
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An increase of US forces to the front prevent the Germans from taking Paris and
the push the Germans back to the original stalemate line
 The Allies now had the military advantage
Allied victory

Battle of the Argonne Forrest
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Allies win, but American causalities rose to 120,000
The 369th Infantry an African American regiment showed great bravery and
earned the Cross of War, a French military honor
Germany army soldiers were beginning to mutiny and civilians were rioting due
to food shortages
In October, the German Chancellor requested a cease-fire (armistice)

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October 9th, the German Kaiser gave up the throne
On November 11, 1918, an armistice is signed, The Great War had finally
ended.
Section 12.4: The War’s End & Aftermath
Wilson’s 14 Points
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A program for world peace devised by Wilson
Nine points dealt with the issue of self-determination (the
right of people to govern themselves)
The next 4 points dealt w/ what causes modern war
The final point called for the creation of the League of
Nations, an international body designed to prevent future
wars
The other allied powers, Britain, France, and Italy wanted
to punish Germany because they blamed the war’s
escalation on it.
Wilson is the first sitting president to cross the Atlantic

He is greeted in France as a conquering hero
Peace Conference
 From left to right the Big Four (main delegates) at the
Paris Peace Conference were:
 Lloyd George - Prime Minister of Great Britain,
 Vittorio Orlando - President of Italy,
Georges Clemenceau - President of France,
 Woodrow Wilson - President of the United States of America
Section 12.4: The War’s End & Aftermath

The Paris Peace Conference

The Treaty of Versailles


Under the treaty:

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Wilson makes concessions to the European powers allowing them
to punish Germany to get the League of Nations created
Germany took the blame for causing the war
Germany had to pay war reparations of $30 billion ($2.7 trillion today)
Germany lost territory in Africa and in its own nation
Rhineland demilitarized
Returned Alsace and Lorraine to France, which Germany took in the
Franco-Prussian War
Army limited to 100,000 troops
Naval forces limited to 15,000.
The map Europe was redrawn with many new nations created
This treaty would pave the way for World War II as its harshness
towards Germany will allow a bitter Austrian to remake Germany
The US Senate does not approve the Treaty because Republicans
wanted a few things changed and Wilson refused, so the US does
not join the League of Nations
Europe After the Treaty of
Versailles
Section 12.4: The War’s End & Aftermath
 The Global Impact
 More than 8.5 million died in the war another 21
million were wounded
 Industry and agriculture in much of continental
Europe was destroyed
 In Germany, food shortages were so extreme that the
prices of dread was in the thousands
 France and Britain gained Muslim lands controlled
by the now extinct Ottoman Empire
 Britain issued its support of creating a Jewish homeland
in Palestine