Transcript AMERICA IN WORLD WAR i

AMERICA IN WORLD WAR I
ALLIED POWERS:
Great Britain
Ireland
Russia
Italy
Serbia
CENTRAL POWERS:
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Turkey
Bulgaria
WORLD WAR I:
•1914-1918
•Serbian nationalist killed Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand & his
wife
•Treaty signed in 1919 to end war (Treaty of Versailles)
•Began in Europe due to self-interests and balance of power politics
•US and Wilson did not see a need to join (not American issues);
Wilson felt it went against his foreign policy ideas (Moral
Diplomacy).
US NEUTRALITY:
•Many Americans favored neutrality due
to amount of immigrants in US at the
time; choosing sides would tear the
country about
*British & Russian immigrants favored
Allies
*German & Austrian immigrants favored
Central Powers
*Irish immigrants were againstsupporting
any British movement
• Americans wanted to remain out of European
affairs the way they hoped Europeans would
stay out of American affairs
•Wilson believed that by practicing
neutrality would show the United States
could illustrate peace and help it
emerge as a world leader
•If the US remained neutral, they had the
opportunity to trade war materials with
both sides, helping pull America out of a
depression
AMERICAN NEUTRALITY?
•Difficulty enforcing neutrality due to other countries not respecting it (both Allied &
Central Powers stated they were unwilling to do this)
•Britain and France called on American money and supplies to help with war effort
•JP Morgan & Company gave billions of dollars to the Allies during “neutrality
period”
•British ships prevented Americans from trading with Germany
•Germany responded by using unrestricted submarine warfare to sink any ship in
international waters
•The industrialists and political leaders wanted war because it led to prosperity.
AMERICAN NEUTRALITY?
•Wilson, seeking reelection in 1916
created several bills that showed US was
still neutral, yet the US would still require
a larger & more modern military
1. National Defense Act
2. Naval Expansion Act
3. Merchant Marine Act
SUSSEX PLEDGE:
•Germany promised not to sink anymore
passenger ships or merchant vessels
without giving warning
•Wilson informed Germany that should
the pledge be broken, he would break
diplomatic relations that would
ultimately lead to war
•Germany believed that it would take at
least a year for the US to get soldiers
and materials ready for war; resumed
unrestricted submarine warfare.
REASONS FOR US INVOLVEMENT:
1. Unrestricted
submarine warfare
2. Sinking of the
Lusitania
3. Zimmerman Note
SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA:
•May 07, 1915: German U-boats sank
the British passenger liner the Lusitania,
killing 1,198 people, including 128
Americans.
•Lusitania was carrying small-arms
ammunition (Germany used this as a way
to justify sinking it).
•Americans were surprised and outraged
at the “mass murder” of Americans
•Led to the Sussex Pledge
UNRESTRICTED SUBMARINE WARFARE:
•January 31, 1917: Germany announced they would use unrestricted submarine
warfare to sink ALL ships, including any American ship, in the war zone.
•Broke the Sussex Pledge, hoping to hurt Britain before America could join the war.
•In response, Wilson, still not wanting war, asked Congress to arm American merchant
ships
ZIMMERMANN NOTE:
•February 25, 1917: British turn over an
intercepted telegram in which the
German foreign minister (Arthur
Zimmermann) promised to return lost
territory to Mexico if they formed an
alliance with Germany
•March 01, 1917: Zimmermann Note gets
published in US papers; Americans
viewed Germany as meddling in US
affairs
•This coupled with continued unrestricted
submarine warfare sent America to war
on April 06, 1917
THE PEACE PROCESS:
•Wilson advocated for “peace without victory” prior to US entrance
into the war
•To have an impact on the peace process, had to enter the war
•Germany was denied any role in crafting the peace settlement
which resulted in a “victor’s peace”
•Wilson negotiated the peace treaty personally
•Wilson did not feel bound to the secret treaties Allies had made
prior to US entrance into the war
•As he had to give up many of his ideals, put his hope in the League
of Nations
WILSON’S PLAN: “THE 14 POINTS:”
A plan for ending World War I and prevent a war like this in the future.
The first 5 points were designed
to remove the causes of the
war.
*Open treaties
*Open seas
*Free trade
*Universal disarmament
*Impartial adjustment of
colonial claims in
consideration with the wishes
of the inhabitants
WILSON’S PLAN: “THE 14 POINTS:”
A plan for ending World War I and prevent a war like this in the future.
 The Next 8 points changed the boundaries
of Europe
*Evacuation of all Russian territory
*Evacuation of Belgium
*Restoration of all French Territory
including Alsace-Lorraine
*Italian border readjusted
*Autonomous development of AustroHungarian Empire
*Evacuation of Serbia, Montenegro, and
Romania; Serbia given sea access
*Establishment of a free and
independent Poland
The last established a League of
Nations to regulate behavior of
nations in the future.
TREATY OF VERSAILLES:
TERMS:
*Created 9 new nations
*Germany was disarmed
*The War Guilt Clause:
Germany had to accept
blame for the war
*Germany had to pay
war reparations to the
allies
*The League of Nations
was established.
WEAKNESSES:
Germany was humiliated and very upset over it.
They wanted revenge.
Germany had to pay huge amounts of money
and this hurt their economy.
BACK IN THE UNITED STATES:
Senate did not want the United States to participate in
the League of Nations. They felt that it was a way to
become further entangled in the affairs of Europe.
Country divided over the treatment of various groups Ex.
German Americans at the treatment of Germany
Isolationists
Many felt the League was unrealistic
Wilson personally campaigns for the treaty’s passage by
going on a cross country speaking tour and suffers a
stroke.
The Senate refuses to ratify the treaty.
LEGACIES OF WORLD WAR I
The conditions at the end of the war allowed
Adolf Hitler come to power.
The United States is now a world power but not a
participant in the League of Nations.
The US refusal to ratify the Treaty took the
strength away and in part led to its failure.
The strength of the US economy made the US the
engine of the world economy – so went the US
economy—so went the world