Transcript CH. 18-2 THE UNITED STATES IN WORLD WAR I

CH. 18-2 THE UNITED STATES IN
WORLD WAR I
AMERICAN HISTORY
UNITED STATES STAYS NEUTRAL
 May 1, 1915—British Cruise ship Lusitania was torpedoed
by a German submarine and sank—1,200+ died including
128 Americans
 Americans saw WWI as a European conflict
 President Wilson declared the USA would remain neutral
 USA maintained a long-standing policy of ISOLATIONISM
(a policy of not being involved in the affairs of other nations)
 LEANING TOWARD THE ALLIES
 Privately, Wilson favored the Allied cause
 USA had greater political, cultural, and commercial ties to
Great Britain and France, not Germany
 A British blockade kept American businesses from selling to
Germany
 By 1917—Britain was buying nearly $75 million worth of
war goods from Americans each week
 GERMAN SUBMARINE WARFARE
 Germany suffered from the British blockade
 Germany waged war with U-BOATS (small submarines)
 February 1915—Germany announced the waters around
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G.B. would be a war zone and all enemy boats would be
destroyed
Neutral ships might be attacked as well
This policy was called UNRESTRICTED SUBMARINE
WARFARE
President Wilson warned Germany that they would hold
them responsible for any American lives lost
Tensions between Germany and the USA were rising
HEADING TOWARD WAR
 Americans were outraged at the sinking of the Lusitania
 Wilson demanded an end to unrestricted submarine warfare
 Germany then decided to attack only supply ships
 March 24, 1916—Germany attacked the French passanger
ship Sussex killing 80
 Germany thought USA might enter the war so they issued
the SUSSEX PLEDGE
 A promise not to sink merchant vessels “without warning an
without saving human lives”
 WILSON’S RE-ELECTION
 During the 1916 campaign, Wilson promised not to send
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troops to die in Europe
Opponent Charles Evans Hughes took a stronger pro-war
stance
The election was close but Wilson won by about 3% of the
popular vote
January 1917—Wilson asked the Allied and Central Powers
to accept “peace without victory”
Allies were angered by the request
 Allies blamed the Central Powers for starting the war and said they
should pay for wartime damage and destruction
 Hope for peace was lost when Germany resumed unrestricted
submarine warfare on February 1, 1917
 Feb. 3rd—USA ends diplomatic relations with Germany
 Wilson asked Congress for authority to install guns on US merchant
ships
 THE ZIMMERMAN NOTE
 German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman sent a note to Mexico
proposing an alliance
 “We shall make war together. We shall make peace together.”
 In exchange, Mexico is to reconquer lost territory in NM, TX, and AZ
 Germany hoped a war between Mexico and the USA would
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keep the Americans out of WWI
The Germany strategy backfired because Mexico didn’t want
to fight
The British intercepted the Zimmerman note, decoded it,
and forwarded it to the USA
American newspapers printed part of the note
More Americans began calling for war
Wilson continued to resist
 THE UNITED STATES DECLARES WAR
 March 1917—an uprising in Russia forces Czar Nicholas II to
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give up absolute power. Rebel leaders set up a republican
government
People wondered how long Russia would continue to fight
along the eastern front
USA became more supportive of Allies and the war after
Nicholas left
Mid-March 1917—German U-boats sank 3 American
merchant ships
President Wilson called a meeting of his cabinet
 Each Secretary argued for war
 April 2, 1917—President Wilson asked Congress for a war
declaration to “make the world safe for democracy”
 April 6, 1917—America joins the war on the side of the
Allies
AMERICANS IN EUROPE
 USA began to mobilize quickly for war
 An army needed to be raised, new recruits needed to be
trained for combat and supplies needed to be shipped to the
front.
 RAISING AN ARMY
 May 18, 1917—Congress passed the SELECTIVE SERVICE
ACT
 Required men between 21 & 30 to register to be drafted in
the armed forces
 A small number asked to be classified as CONSCIENTIOUS
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OBJECTORS
Members of certain religious groups such as Quakers that
didn’t believe in fighting in a war
Most draft boards didn’t approve their applications
Choice of fighting or going to prison
New recruits reported for duty but nothing was ready for
them
They slept in tents until barracks could be built and there
were no supplies
 Training was intense. Days were spent learning military
rules and practices.
 African American soldiers were segregated into separate
units and trained at separate camps
 Latinos were also discriminated against
 US Government created a program to help those people that
didn’t speak English learn the language so they could along
side other Americans
 ARRIVING IN EUROPE
 Americans overseas formed the American Expeditionary
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Force (AEF) led by Gen. John J. Pershing
First soldiers arrived in France in late June 1917
The CONVOY SYSTEM was used to safely transport troops
to Europe
Transport ships were guarded by destroyers or cruisers for
protection.
Germany occupied Belgium and NE France
Russians were facing famine and civil war
 If Russia fell, Germany would rotate more troops to France
 Allies want Americans to fight with European units as soon as
they arrived
 Gen. Pershing wanted Americans to fight as American units
and get more training
 Pershing set up training in eastern France
 ALLIED SETBACKS
 November 1917—Bolsheviks take control of Russia
 Bolsheviks were COMMUNISTS (people who seek equal
distribution of wealth and the end of all private property)
 The new Russian government, led by Vladimir Ilich Lenin,
withdrew their army from the eastern front and signed a
peace treaty with the Central Powers
 March 1918—Germany launched a series of tremendous
offensives against the allies
 Germany had 6,000 artillery pieces, including “Big
Berthas”—massive guns that could fire a 2,100-pound shell
75 miles
 By late May 1918—Germany had pushed the Allies back to
the Marne River, just 70 miles from Paris
 US TROOPS IN ACTION
 12 months after Americans arrived in Europe, they started seeing
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combat
The dug extensive trenches to protect themselves from German
gunfire
Ex.—Company A of the 82nd division dug 3,000 yards of trenches
and laid 12,000 yards of barbed wire
Soldiers worked during the night to avoid detection
Life in the trenches was miserable
Soldiers stood in deep mud as rats ran across their feet, artillery
shells exploded nearby, and clouds of mustard gas floated through
the trenches
 American troops were a major factor in the war
 June 1918—Americans help the French stop the Germans at
Chateau-Thierry
 US Marines halted the German advance in northern France
and Paris was saved
 AMERICAN MILITARY WOMEN
 A few women signed up to serve overseas
 The US Army Signal Corp recruited French-speaking US
women to serve as switchboard operators
 They served a critical role keeping communications open
 More than 20,000 nurses served in the US Army during the
war
 Women also served as typists and bookkeepers, and some
became radio operators, electricians, and telegraphers
THE WAR ENDS
 July 15, 1918—Germany launches its last desperate offensive
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at the Second Battle of the Marne
The US 3rd Division blew up every bridge the Germans had
built across the Marne
The German army retreated on August 3, 1918, having
suffered 150,000 casualties
The Allies counter-attacked in September 1918
Americans fought as a separate force defeating German
troops at Mihiel, near the French-German border
(map p. 595)
 Allies moved north toward the French-Belgian border
 At the Battle of the Argonne Forest Americans suffered
120,000 casualties
 THE ARMISTACE
 Late 1918—the war was crippling the German economy
 Food riots and strikes erupted in Germany
 Revolution swept across Austria-Hungary
 Central Powers had trouble encouraging their troops to fight
 Austria-Hungary signed a peace treaty with the Allies
 November 7, 1918—German delegation enters France to begin
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peace negotiations
Allies demanded Germany:
1) leave all territories it occupied
2) surrender its aircraft, heavy artillery, tanks, and U-boats
3) allow Allies to occupy some parts of Germany
November 11, 1918—Armistace went into effect
8.5 million people had been killed
People hoped that WWI would be “the war to end all wars”
THE END