Transcript A Survey of USA

A Survey of USA:
----- World War I
Prof. Niangen Huang
World War I
With the emergence of industrial America came
the emergence of imperial America and the
United States as a world power. The growing
industrial might of the nation was reflected
clearly in United States mad policy of
aggression and expansion abroad.
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In 1898, the first imperialist war, the U. S. Spanish War, broke
out. The war was quickly fought and won by the United States.
The peace treaty gave Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines
to the U. S. and Cuba became independent, but remained
subject to close American control.
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The U. S. Spanish War was but a beginning in
world- wide U. S aggression.
By the early years of the twentieth century,
Theodore Roosevelt who became President in
1900 carried out the aggressive policy in most
faithful and open manner.
Wielding the “Big Stick" in the name of the
"Monroe Doctrine", he carried out the policy of
aggression in Latin America and brought most
of the Caribbean countries under U. S. control.
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World War I broke out in July 1914. It
came as an inevitable explosion of the
major contradictions racking the capitalist
world. The war was waged between two
groups of imperialist powers, Allies and
the Central European Powers.
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The Allies or the Entente consisted of
Britain, France, Russia, U. S. A. and other
countries. The Central European Powers
consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary,
and later Turkey and Bulgaria. The basic
causes of the war lay in the political,
economic and colonial rivalries of the
great powers, stretching back into the late
19th century.
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In the years before 1914 several crises almost
started war; and the final crisis was the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of
Austria at Sarajevo, Serbia on June 28, 1914.
Austria used this as an excuse for declaring war
on Serbia; Russia supported Serbia, and
Germany declared war on Russia and on France.
When Germany invaded Belgium, which was
neutral, Britain declared war on Germany. Then
the war was really spread in a large scale.
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When the Great War began, President
Wilson immediately called upon his fellow
countrymen to observe strict neutrality.
This appeal met with general approval, for
the great majority of Americans wished to
avoid involvement in the war. And yet, by
1917, Wilson himself was leading the
country into war.
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There were several reasons for the United
States to join the War so late.
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The United States was lack of military preparedness
when the war began.
Another factor for the U.S. to join the war was the
American financial and industrial commitment to the
Allied cause.
Finally the important factor was Germany's submarine
campaign against merchant ships. That was to attack
every ship that approached the British Isles. This
Germany's action helped turning American and other
neutral opinion against Germany.
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When the German government announced that
unrestricted submarine warfare would resume on
February 1, 1917, President Wilson cut diplomatic
relations with Germany.
Soon after British intelligence officers made public a
startling secret, Germany's foreign minister, Arthur
Zimmermann, had promised the Mexicans a chance "to
reconquer lost territory in New Mexico, Texas and
Arizona," if they declared war on the United States. the
Negroes and the whites in the South.
A stunned, angry American public now eagerly followed
where Wilson led.
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On April 6, 1917, the United States
declared war on Germany.
The intervention of the United States gave
the Allies decisive superiority in manpower
as well as in war supplies.
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Soon after the declaring of the war,
American Congress passed the Selective
Service Act which required all men
between the ages of 18 and 45 to register
for the draft.
Out of the 24 million men who registered, 2.8
million were selected through a nationwide
lottery to serve in the army.
An additional 2 million volunteered for service.
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World War I saw the first use of the
airplane as a war-making machine. At the
beginning of the war the American army
had 55 planes, but at the end, the number
had increased to 3227.
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As American troops entered the war the
Allies began to act on the offensive. In the
face of combined attacks, the German
government appealed to Wilson for a
negotiated peace settlement to which
Wilson agreed.
An armistice was concluded in November
1918.
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No wonder the peace conference had its
difficulties, for every victorious power was
motivated by self-interest. The inclusion of the
League of Nations in the peace treaty was
Wilson's major triumph. In other treaty matters
Wilsonian idealism was largely ignored by the
Allies. In the end Wilson accepted the treaty
terms which imposed a strict reduction of
Germany's army and navy, stripped her of all her
colonies, and forced her to admit guilt for the war
and to pay for its cost.
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When the Treaty of Versailles was sent to
the Senate for ratification, the United
States Senate refused to approve it. Thus
the United States did not join the League
of Nations at last.
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America's setback in the rivalry with the
old European powers nourished a new
tendency towards isolationism in American
diplomacy, but the country never again
follow its old isolationist line, for it had
become the strongest world power and the
largest creditor.
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The American government would certainly
seek to speak with a stronger voice in
world affairs.
In 1921, the American 'President invited
Britain, Japan, France and some other
countries to the Washington Conference.
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Three major treaties were concluded at
the Washington Conference:
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the Four-Power Treaty, respecting the status
quo in the Pacific;
the Five-Power Treaty, on naval arms
apportionment;
the Nine-power Treaty, guaranteeing the
independence and integrity of China in
appearance, but actually a public international
affirmation of the Open Door policy.
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During and immediately after the First
World War, America enjoyed a period of
prosperity and fast development in
economy. The ten years between 1919
and 1929, usually called the "roaring
Twenties" or the "Jazz Age", were a time
of carefree prosperity, isolation from the
world's problems, bewildering social
change and a feverish pursuit of pleasure.
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The Twenties brought a rush of new inventions and manufacturing
techniques which changed the way people lived.
People moved away from the countryside in such numbers that by
1925 half the population of America lived in cities and suburbs.
Women won the right to vote and many started to earn their own
money.
Cars became commonplace and people began to move about
among all regions of the country.
Radio, movies, an abundance of standardized national products
and national advertizing all helped to turn America into a greedily
consuming society.
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At such a prosperous time Herbert Hoover
was elected President in 1928. In his 1929
Inaugural Address, Hoover declared "in no
nation are the fruits of accomplishment
more secure.” His statement reflected the
mood of optimism in the country.
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The growth of monopoly capital in the
United States was accompanied by a
rising working-class movement.
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In this new industrial age, the employer became a big
impersonal corporation, which could fire or hire
workers at will.
Jobs were insecure and the Workday was long.
The working conditions in the factories were often
disagreeable and dangerous. There were, as yet, no
laws to require safe working conditions or to provide
compensation in case of injury or death on the job.
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The workers began to realize that the only
way to protect themselves and their
families was to organize.
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The first labor organization came into being in the
1870"s.
The Pennsylvania railway workers" strike of 1877 was
the first large-scale workers' struggle in the history of the
United States.
On May 1, 1886 a national strike occurred in support of
the eight-hour workday.
On March 8, 1909, women workers in Chicago launched
a big struggle for freedom and equal rights with men.
Their efforts won the recognition of the Second
International Congress of women socialists which
decided in 1910 that March 8 each year was to be
observed as International Working Women's Day.