Transcript Title: World War I & Its Aftermath

Title: World War I & Its Aftermath
What was the Monroe
Doctrine?
Revisit the Monroe Doctrine
• Asserted US right to
intervene in Western
Hemisphere when
national security was at
stake
• US wants no part of
Europe’s internal
disputes
• With Europe leading
toward WWI, it was
difficult for US to follow
Monroe Doctrine
What was the American
stance during the early stages
into WWI?
Isolation & neutrality
• US initially tried to stay out of
events going on in Europe
• Woodrow Wilson won presidential
election of 1912: vowed to keep
America in isolation
• When WWI broke out in August
1912, Wilson declared neutrality.
– America would treat all countries fairly
and without favoritism
• Neutrality was difficult to follow
because the US & Britain were
close allies
U.S. Enters War
-Peace without Victory
• Wilson attempts to keep U.S. out of
the war – isolationist
-idealistic peace plan
-Submarine warfare continues
• Germany continues unrestricted
submarine warfare, no warnings
-Zimmerman Note intercepted
• Proposed Mexican alliance
-Wilson calls for War
“Make world safe for democracy”
• Wilson’s “Moral Diplomacy”
-Russian Revolution takes them out of
the war
• Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, set
up communist government and exit
war
“Property can be paid for; the lives of peaceful
and innocent people cannot be. The present
German submarine warfare against commerce is
a warfare against mankind…We are glad…to
fight…fore the ultimate peace of the world and
for the liberation of its peoples…The world must
be made safe for democracy…We have no
selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest,
no dominion. We seek no indemnities…IT is a
fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people
into war…But the right is more precious than
peace.”
~Woodrow Wilson
Military Operations
• Mobilizing the U.S. for war
-Selective Service Act (May 1917)
drafted over 3 million troops
• 24 million men registered, 3
million randomly selected
-recruits trained for 9 months
• 17-hour days with fake weapons,
not prepared
To meet the government’s need for fighting power,
Congress passed the Selective Service Act in May of
1917. The act required men to register with the
government in order to be randomly selected for
military service. By the end of 1918, 24 million men
had registered under the act. Of this number, almost
3 million were called up. About 2 million troops
reached Europe before the truce was signed, and
three-fourths of them saw actual combat. Most of
the inductees had not attended high school, and
about one in five was foreign-born.
-transportation problems
• Must get men, food, equipment
across ocean
gov’t control of industry
• Took over warships and production
use of convoy system
• Guard of destroyers escorted
merchant ships across Atlantic
Military Operations
-”Over There” – Europe/France
-”Dough Boys” – nickname for American soldiers
-General John Pershing-graduated from West Point
-fought in Spanish-American war
-led the American Expeditionary Force in
WWI
American Expeditionary Force
• Most went to Western Front
-Argonne Forest Campaign
-Alvin York-American war Hero
• Killed 25 Germans and captured many prisoners
of war
• Most Decorated soldier in WWI
• Medal of Honor recipient
-Armistice Nov. 1918
• Nov. 11 at 11 a.m.
• Germans exhausted, A-H already surrendered;
cease-fire
no battles fought in Germany
A redhead mountaineer and
blacksmith from Tennessee,
York sought exemption from
war as a conscientious
objector, a person who
opposes warfare on moral
grounds, saying that the Bible
says, “Thou shalt not kill.”
Fighting Over There
-most U.S. soldiers were not
experienced travelers
• Impressed by foreign sights and
sounds, not ready for harsh
realities of war
-huge cannons, Zeppelins, machine
guns, poison gases, tanks,
airplanes
-Machine guns stopped advancing
for the enemies.
-Air Planes early values in war
effort were to spy on enemies.
• Modern warfare brings large
numbers of casualties
-poor medical care
• Trench Foot
Public Opinion
-Committee on Public
Information
• Propaganda agency to sell
the war
George Creel
4 Minute Men –
volunteers who spoke out
about the war (draft,
rationing, bonds, etc.)
“I Want You” Campaign
• Army and Navy
recruitment
-Espionage and Sedition
Act
I) Civil Liberties Violated
• Espionage Act (1917) = illegal to try to
convince someone to dodge the military draft
• Sedition Act (1918) = illegal to try to prevent
the sale of war bonds or to speak negatively of
the government, the flag, the military, or the
Constitution
Committee on Pubic
Information (CPI)
• Government wartime propaganda
• Sensational messages
• Created images of the Germans
as cold-blooded, baby-killing
power hungry people.
• Encouraged Americans to reject
all German things:
– Sauerkraut = liberty cabbage
II) Women
• Number of women
in workforce did
not increase
greatly during
WWI
• Employment
changed: Quit
domestic work &
started working in
factories
– 20% of factory
manufacturing jobs
• Ended when
males returned
home
America after WWI
Racial Unrest
- After THE GREAT MIGRATION, soldiers came wanting their jobs
back.
Red Scare
-Americans became very anti-German
-Palmer Raids- anyone that is suspected of being communist or as
spies were deported.
Economy in Turmoil
– Inflation
• After war people rushed to get the things during war they were
rationed. Cost of Living increased.
– Series of strikes
• Seattle General Strike
• Boston police strike
• Steel strike
WWI ENDS
• Battle of Argonne Forest- final Allied
offensive that forced and surrounded
the Germans to agree to the
armistice. Turning the war to an end.
• WWI (1914-1918)
• America in War (1917-1918)
IV) Aftermath of WWI
• American participation tipped the balance in
the Allies’ favor, who won the war
• The Versailles Treaty was to be written in
Paris
• President Woodrow Wilson attended
because he wanted them to implement his
Fourteen Point Plan:
– Free trade through lower tariffs and freedom of
the seas
– Reduction of arms supplies on all sides
– Promotion of self-determination (both in Europe
and overseas)
– Creation of the League of Nations (organization
that functions like the United Nations)
Results of the Versailles Treaty
• Punished Germany through disarmaments,
reparation of payments, admittance of Germany’s
fault for starting the war
• Many historians agree that by leaving Germany
humiliated & in economic ruin, the Treaty set the stage
for WWII
• Wilson’s 14 Point Plan was mostly discarded, except
for the League of Nations
In the end, the United States rejected the treaty and
American participation in the League of Nations
• America wanted to return
to a period of isolationism
• Wanted less interaction
with Europe, not more
• Wilson tried to campaign
for popular support of the
treaty but he suffered a
stroke and could not
complete it.