Transcript Unit II- US Foreign Policy History 1865- WWII - Waverly

Unit II- U.S. Foreign Policy
History 1865- WWII
Chapter 21 Section 1
A Spark Ignites Europe
10th American History
Unit II- U.S. Foreign Affairs
Reading Quiz for Chapter 21 Sect. 1
1. What was the spark that started WWI?
2. In WWI whose side was Russia on?
3. In WWI whose side was France on?
4. England declared war on Germany attacked
France through what country?
5. How did the United States feel about the War in
Europe?
6. What problems were Americans having with
international law and freedom of the seas?
7. How did Germany enforce its war zone around the
British Isles?
8. What brought America into WWI?
Causes of World War I
 No one event or person caused the
Great War. There were many factors
that contributed to mobilization of
the belligerents
 Five Major factors often identified
as causes of World War I (but not
causes of U.S. entry)
 Militarism
 Alliances
 Imperialism
 Nationalism
 Events or Economics
 Possible causes of U.S.
entry
 British Propaganda and
Pro-British sentiment
 Submarine Warfare
 Munitions trade and
loans to Great Britain
 Zimmerman Note
 Sinking of the Lusitania
The Spark
 Serbians feared that the Archduke would
continue and even heighten the persecution
of Serbs living within the Austro-Hungarian
empire.
 Serbia had gained independence in 1878, and
claimed several regions of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. which Austria-Hungary officially
annexed.
 The Serbian terrorist organization, the Black
Hand, would carry out the assassination of
the Archduke. First the Black Hand
operatives tossed a bomb at the Archduke's
automobile. This missed.
 The Archduke's chauffeur took a wrong turn
and drove within ten feet of another Black
Hand agent, Gavrilo Princip. Princip stepped
up to the car and fired two pistol shots. One
bullet hit Sophie, killing her instantly. The
other hit Francis Ferdinand, who died within
minutes. Princip attempted suicide, but was
captured before succeeding.
World War I Begins - The Great War
 Kaiser Wilhelm II on July 5th
pledged that Germany would fully
support Austria-Hungary in any
action against Serbia.
 On July 23, 1914, Austria-Hungary
presented Serbia with a lengthy list
of demands.
 On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary
declared war on Serbia. World War
I had begun.
World War I Begins - The Great War
 The Great War, as contemporaries
called it -- was the first man-made
catastrophe of the 20th century.
 In the weeks after the assassination,
none of the critical leaders had the
power or will to slow down the
decisions, actions, reactions and
attitude shifts of key government
and military leaders.
 By August, millions of Europeans --
especially the military and
diplomatic leaders of AustriaHungary, Germany and Russia -saw war as the way to save their
honor, as well as to solve the
internal and international problems
that needed to be resolved.
The Great War- Two Sides
 Allied Powers
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Serbia
Russia
France
Great Britain
Belgium
Italy
Portugal
Greece
Japan
United States
 Central Powers
– Austria-Hungary
– Germany Empire
– Bulgaria
– Turkish Empire
Schlieffen Plan
 Both sides originally believed that the Great War
would be over quickly.

In Germany, this belief was based on a long
established war strategy called the Schlieffen Plan.
Start with a German army invading
Belgium(avoiding eastern French Forts) to reach
Paris.
 The German generals were so confident of success
that Kaiser Wilhelm II proclaimed that he would
have "Paris for lunch, St. Petersburg for dinner."
 The plan required precise timing, with no
interruptions in the timetable -- its first objective
was to capture Paris in precisely 42 days, and force
the French to surrender. The German armies would
then shift their focus to the eastern front and defeat
the Russians before they were fully prepared to
fight.
 It started quickly on Aug. 2, 1914 with Germany
invading Luxembourg and Belgium, but the
British, French and Russians mobilized quicker
than expected.

The war grew rapidly out of control. New styles of
warfare, like the use of gas and heavy artillery,
produced new kinds of horror and unprecedented
levels of suffering and death.

As a Germans army crossed into Belgium, heading for
Paris, the Russian Army - moving faster than the
German generals had anticipated -- was already
pushing into East Prussia. The German forces on the
Eastern Front, however, quickly defeated the Tsar's
army at the Battle of Tannenberg.

In the west, as the German army invaded Belgium,
rumors and stories quickly spread of the atrocities the
German soldiers inflicted upon Belgium civilians

The French, believing the German thrust into
Belgium to be a fake, launched their own offensive on
the eastern border between France and Germany the
operations were disastrous, with the French army
losing 27,000 soldiers in a single day.

When the German invasion of France failed to take
Paris or destroy French and British resistance on the
river Marne, stalemate quickly followed, and a line of
trenches soon stretched along the war's Western
Front from the Swiss Alps to the English Channel.
Christmas Eve of 1914 saw an extraordinary truce
between the men fighting in the trenches that had
been called "the last twitch of the 19th century."
Stalemate
Poison gas attack, Flanders, Belgium
U.S. Neutrality
 Aug. 4, 1914 Wilson proclaims the neutrality of the United
States. U.S. needs to be the model for world peace. U.S.
more interested in competing for markets than killin.
 1915 Henry Ford charters a Peace Ship to Stockholm,
Sweden conference January 1916
– Ford, then one of the richest men in the world,
actually thought he could talk the leaders of Europe
into stopping World War.
Oskar II- Peace ship
– Ford believed if he could only get foreign leaders to sit
down in a room, he could make them listen to reason
and the war would end. Straight talk from a nononsense businessman would persuade where
diplomatic doubletalk had failed.
– A boat of pacifists-“Every crackpot and nut in the
country wanted to get on that boat,” from socialists,
to prohibitionists, to anti-smoking crusaders, to proGerman partisans, and people from “every religious
splinter-group” in the country.
– The Peace Expedition became a farce, The world
press mocked them mercilessly. It failed.
Ties that bind
 Allies
– U.S. spoke English language.
– U.S. Laws and customs based
on English foundations.
– All news from Europe came
through British press.
(England had cut the transAtlantic cable) British
Propaganda-atrocity stories.
– Kaiser Wilhelm had made
many warlike (militaristic)
statements.
– Trade with England and Allies
was enormous. $3 Billion
– $2 billion in loans to Allies.
 Central Powers
– Millions in US favored Central
powers due to ancestors who
had been born in Austria,
Germany or Hungary.
– Irish Americans were glad to
see anyone fight the British.
– US had long been trading with
the Germans. But that dropped
by 1916 from $170 million to
$1 million.
Problem of Neutral Rights
 International Law and use of the Seas
– Neutral nations still allowed to trade with both sides.
– Warring nations were allowed by International Law to
stop and inspect neutral vessels at sea.
– Warring nations could seize certain war materials
(Contraband)- explosives, guns and ammunition. But
not other goods.
– Before sinking a commercial ship, the attacker had to
give warning.
– No court, or police force to make nations obey the law.
– “Freedom of the Seas”
The Problem of Neutral Rights
 British Navy
– Blockade- Control the seas and
starve Germany into
submission
– Contraband included all sorts
of goods including food.
– All neutral ships would be
searched even those going to
neutral countries. England
would seize any ship bound for
Germany.
– North Sea was a military are
and put mines down.
– All in violation of international
law.
– British would pay for all goods
seized after America protested.
 German Submarines
– 1915- fleet of 27 subs disobeyed
international law.
– War zone- Germany declares this
around the British Isles.
– Unrestricted sub warfare.
– Advised all neutrals not to travel
there or on British ships.
– Wilson insists under International
law Americans had the right to sail
on any ship. And Germany would
be accountable for all American
lives.
– 1915- Germany sinks Lusitania,
then Arabic and Sussex passenger
ships. After promising not to sink
unarmed passenger ships without
warning.
Wilson’s Peace Efforts
 In the election of 1916 his
slogan had been “He kept us
out of war”.
 After 1916 Wilson still tried to
keep the US out of the war.
 He asked the European
powers to declare a “Peace
without victory.” But
Germany announces
unrestricted sub warfare.
 Germany felt the US would be
too late even if they entered
the war.
The United States goes to war
 Zimmerman note- German ambassador asked Mexico to join




Central powers with promise to return all lands taken by the
US.
1917-Wilson arms Merchant ships for protection against
submarines.
April 2, 1917 Wilson asks Congress to declare war on Germany.
“The world must be made safe for democracy. We must fight
for the rights and liberties of small nations.”
Americans need to be soldiers of righteousness.
Wilson’s 14 Points- His Dream for the world

1. No more secret agreements ("Open covenants openly arrived at").

2. Free navigation of all seas.

3. An end to all economic barriers between countries.

4. Countries to reduce weapon numbers.

5. All decisions regarding the colonies should be impartial

6. The German Army is to be removed from Russia. Russia should be left to develop
her own political set-up.

7. Belgium should be independent like before the war.

8. France should be fully liberated and allowed to recover Alsace-Lorraine

9. All Italians are to be allowed to live in Italy. Italy's borders are to "along
clearly recognisable lines of nationality."

10. Self-determination should be allowed for all those living in Austria-Hungary.

11. Self-determination and guarantees of independence should be allowed for
the Balkan states.

12. The Turkish people should be governed by the Turkish government. Non-Turks in
the old Turkish Empire should govern themselves.

13. An independent Poland should be created which should have access to the sea.

14. A League of Nations should be set up to guarantee the political and territorial
independence of all states.