Transcript Wilson and WWI

Chapter 13, Section 5 and Chapter 15, Section 1
 William Taft won the Republican nomination for the
election of 1912.
 In response, Theodore Roosevelt went and formed his
own party– the Bull Moose Party, and joined the race
as a third-party candidate.
 Republicans were split over the two men, so a united
Democratic Party was able to capture the White House
with their candidate, Woodrow Wilson.
 When Wilson took office, he wanted to reignite
the progressive legislation that Roosevelt had
begun, and Taft had since weakened.
 His collective goals were known as the New
Freedom because he wanted to provide new
opportunities (freedom) for small businesses.
 He would accomplish this by putting in place
strict government controls on corporations.
 The Progressive Era witnessed many changes in
almost every facet of American society.
 In regards to politics, changes occurred
regarding election rules and who was eligible to
vote (women);
 Economically, regulation of big business
through the establishment of gov. agencies and
legislation remains to this day;
 Improvement in both work and housing
conditions bettered the standard of living for
poor workers.
Chapter 15, Section 1
 There were many factors that led up to the
outbreak of World War One. These included
imperialism, militarism, and an alliance system
that spread across Europe.
 Imperialism, the control of smaller countries by
larger ones, intensified with the spread of Social
Darwinism.
 After France had lost territory in the region of
Alsace-Lorraine to the Germans, they saw this
as a mark against their strength or ‘fit’-ness.
 This also hurt France’s nationalistic pride.
 Militarism, or glorification of the military, was fueled by
the spread of imperialism across the globe.
 Germany had soon amassed one of the largest
collections of weapons in the world.
 This fear led to an arms race– a build-up of military
technology within a country.
 It was only a matter of time before tensions boiled
over.
 When they did, the ‘sides’ had already been drawn
thanks to the alliance system. Under this, a country
knew that if they were consumed by war, its fellow allies
would jump in to back them up.
Militarism
Alliance System
Imperialism
Nationalism
 Combined together, these four causes led to
the outbreak of WWI.
 Europe had been divided into two powerful alliances:
the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente.
 The Triple Alliance originally consisted of Germany,
Austria-Hungary and Italy. (Italy later left)
 The Triple Entente consisted of France, Russia and Great
Britain.
 While these three contributed to the outbreak of
WWI, they were both relatively long-term causes
(ones that had been building over the years).
 The ‘spark’ that kicked off WWI was the assassination of
archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his
wife.
 The archduke and his wife were shot by a Serbian, who
believed that Bosnia should still belong to Serbia and
not Austria-Hungary.
 When archduke Francis Ferdinand was assassinated by
a Serbian extremist, Austria-Hungary declared war on
Serbia.
 Germany pledged to support its ally, Austria-Hungary,
and Russia pledged to support Serbia.
 When Germany invaded neutral Belgium and looked
to attack France, Great Britain pledged to protect its
ally.
 All of the fighting in Europe spread because of the
alliance system.
 Although fighting during WWI took place in the
Middle East, Eastern Europe and Italy, the Western
Front became the main stage for conflict.
 It was located along the border between France and
Belgium.
 New military technologies were showcased during
WWI for the first time, including:
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Machine guns;
Poison gas;
Submarines;
Tanks;
Airplanes
 Due to the complexity of ethnic layers found in the
United States (i.e. ‘melting pot’), Wilson wanted the
U.S. to remain neutral in the European conflict for as
long as possible.
 He was afraid that having Americans choose sides would
tear the country apart.
 The diverse opinions of the American people
somewhat solidified as Germany invaded neutral
Belgium.
 These opinions were: isolationists, interventionists and
internationalists.
 Isolationists: believed that the war was none of
the U.S.’ business, and they should not get
involved at all, isolating itself from the fighting.
 Interventionists: since the war affected
American interests (specifically trade), the U.S.
should enter the conflict and side with the
Allies.
 Internationalists: believed that the U.S. should
play an active role in world affairs and work
toward negotiating a peace, but NOT enter the
war.
 As Wilson ran for re-election in 1916, he promoted
himself with the slogan “He kept us out of war.”
Although the election was close, Wilson did win reelection.
 The U.S. would not stay out of war for much longer,
though. Actions by Germany forced the U.S. to enter
the war.
 As Germany blockaded Britain, they used their
submarines to attack any ships that attempted to bring
war supplies for aid.
 The U.S. passenger ship Lusitania was sunk by one of
these submarines, carrying 159 Americans on May 7th,
1915.
 Although the sinking of the Lusitania angered
Americans, it still did not prompt war.
 It was not until almost 2 years later, in January of 1917
when the United States intercepted a telegram from
Germany to Mexico.
 This telegram became known as the Zimmerman note.
In it, the German Foreign Minister pledged the return of
lands lost in the Mexican-American War to Mexico if
Mexico declared war on the United States.
 Shortly after, the United States declared war on
Germany, officially on April 6th, 1917.