Transcript WWI- The Great War

WWI- The Great War
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The United States, Canada, and Latin America
US Neutrality
The US did not feel the
same sense of urgency
as western Europe
Non-American issues
Monroe Doctrine/Big
Stick/Dollar Diplomacy
had kept European
interests out of the west
US Neutrality
Woodrow Wilson distinctly
anti-militaristic
US military a fraction of the
size of most of Europe
U.S. Navy posed little threat
to Germany
The Case for US Neutrality
1914–25%+ of US population
were immigrants. Choosing
sides might tear US apart
US could trade with both sides
dragging it out of depression
United States traditionally
stayed out of European affairs
Wilson despised the idea of war
US Neutrality
Remaining neutral is not
very simple – ask
Belgium!
US more globally
intertwined economically
European states began to
sell off their US holdings
The Allied Blockade
Both sides indicated they were not
willing to respect US neutrality
This prejudiced the US in favor of
the allies
Both sides ignored international
law prohibiting blockading of nonwar material
German submarine warfare more
deadly than British blockade's
The Allied Blockade
Lead to the sinking of the Lusitania
May, 1915
Wilson begin to feel pressure from
Republicans
The US economy became dependent
on allied success due to its loans
1916 – Britain banned certain
American firms from doing business in
the UK because they were in business
with Germany as well
Getting Ready
1916 – Wilsons re-election
campaign based partly on US
neutrality
US government debated to what
extent should a neutral country
militarize
Pacifists/socialists/organized labor
worried that military expansion
could provoke war
Wilson realized that the war
required more modern military
weather US fought in it or not
National Defense Act, 1916
Increased army from 80,000 to 223,000
State militias now under federal control
Gave president power to mobilize the National Guard
Expanded the National Guard to over 400,000
Established Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps
Naval Expansion Act, 1916
Multi year building plan
10 dreadnoughts
16 cruisers
50 destroyers
Merchant Marine Act, 1916
Federal government
could own ships
Increased federal
power to regulate
shipping
The Drift to War
1916-Democrats had campaigned on
Wilson's neutrality record/Republicans
attacked
Republicans at this point began to be
perceived as the party more likely to
guide the country to go to war
Foreign-policy split that would continue
for decades
The Drift to War
1916 – Woodrow Wilson: the
internationalist
Attempted to bring the
belligerents in the war to the
negotiation table – no luck
1917 – presented his vision for a
postwar world: disputes were
negotiated, armaments reduced,
ships travel the seas in peace,
nations cooperated in an
organization
The Drift to War
Realities of war conspiring against
Wilson
Planned German submarine attack
on Britain would undoubtedly lead
to American shipping loss
Plan created by Hindenburg and
Ludendorff
German command reasons it would
take a year for American soldiers to
reach the Western front
The Drift to War
January 31, 1917 – German ambassador in Washington announces
starting the next day all ships would become targets for German U-boats
Some in US government urged immediate declaration of war. Wilson
hesitates
Zimmerman telegram – pushes the US to war
The Drift to War
April 2, 1917 – Wilson addresses congress outlining his case for war
April 6, 1917 – formal declaration of war is signed
Selective Service Act, 1917
A financial commitment would be
required – higher taxes/wealth
would need to be conscripted
US citizens would need to be
conscripted as well
No time for a volunteer army – no
sentiment either – draft mandatory
The act passed in May – millions
were registering soon after
Financing the War
New taxes would take too long to
reach allies and US war
preparations
Congress authorizes $7 billion
loan to get mobilization moving
and help France and Britain
Taxes ultimately provided for
about 30% of the war cost
Financing the War
Duties placed on goods and
services
Liberty bonds
Expanded government
management of national
economies
In the US – creation of
thousands of government
agencies to help with war
production
The Food Administration
Led by future president Herbert Hoover
Managed production and distribution of
food through largely voluntary
measures
Bought crops at a fixed price that
proved profitable to farmers
Food conservation encouraged
Food production increased dramatically
The War Industries Board (WIB)
Led by Bernard Baruch
Coordinated the
production/purchase of war
materials
All industries involved in war
production were subject to its
direction
Fixed prices and set wages and
hours
Factories converted to war
production
Other Major Agencies
Fuel Administration – encouraged and increased fuel production. Bought
coal at a fixed price that proved profitable for miners – just like food
National War Labor Board- sought to regulate labor relations without
worrying about lockouts and strikes
Railroad Administration- coordinated the transportation of goods from
mines, factories, and fields. Operated American railways as a single system.
Other Major Agencies
The Shipping Board- oversaw the expansion of shipbuilding to maintain the
merchant fleet. Shipping tonnage increased by a factor of 10 during the war
Committee on Public Information (CPI)- The attempted coordination of
public opinion. Basically, the propaganda machine.
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WWI - The United States
Women and
the War Effort
The Role of Women in WWI
Women had always played
an important role in industrial
production
Assumed male-dominated
jobs: white collar (clerks),
munitions workers
Continued in traditional jobs
such as nursing
The Role of Women in WWI
Independent income led to
social freedom
After war - the jobs
disappeared (economic &
social reasons) but social
freedoms remained
Women's suffrage
movement/19th
amendment
The Role of Women and
African Americans in WWI
IB 20th Century Topics
Opportunities for African-Americans in
WWI
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“Great Migration.”
1916 – 1919  500,000
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War Industries work.
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Enlistment in segregated
units.
WW I - The Great Migration
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Great Migration of Blacks from South to the
Northern US (Race Riots 1917-19)
The Great Migration
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The war opened thousands of industrial jobs to black laborer
500,000 migrated north
Increased presence and demands for change  Dozens of
blacks were killed during a 1917 riot in East St. Louis, Illinois
African Americans and WWI
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Black leaders saw the war as an opportunity for advancement
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World War I did not bring significant gains
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Navy barred blacks, army segregated
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Riots and lynching increased in the South
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Violence led to a silent march of protest on NY 5th Ave – “Mr.
President, Why Not Make America Safe for Democracy?”
Chicago Race Riot, 1919
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Because of industrial jobs available in WWI, the AfricanAmerican population in Chicago increased from 44,000 to
109,000, for a total of 148 percent during 1916-1919.
The postwar period found tensions rising in numerous cities
where populations were increasing rapidly
The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 was a major racial conflict that
began in Chicago, Illinois on July 27, 1919 and ended on
August 3.
During the riot, dozens died and hundreds were injured.
It is considered the worst of the approximately 25 riots during
the Red Summer of 1919, so named because of the violence
and fatalities across the nation
“Rescuing a Negro During the
Race Riots in Chicago”, 1919
WWI: African Americans
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Many were forced to work behind the lines jobs
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The 369th Harlem Hellfighters fought with the French
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The 369th Infantry Regiment was known for being the first African
American Regiment during WWI
During the war the 369th's regimental band (under the direction of
James Reese) became famous throughout Europe, being the first
to introduce the until-then unknown music called jazz to British,
French and other audiences, and starting a worldwide demand for
it
US Troops were segregated black and white
True Sons of Freedom
Women’s Service in WWI
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Held Home Front jobs
RR Workers, cooks, bricklayers, dock workers,
coal miners, clerks, teachers, and helped to
sell liberty bonds
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Warfront Jobs of Women
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Red Cross Nurses
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Radio operators
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Ambulance drivers
YWCA – The Blue Triangle
Munitions Work
Women Used In Recruitment
The Red Cross - Greatest
Mother in the World
WW I: Suffrage Movement
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National American Women Suffrage Association
(NAWSA) Carrie Chapman Catt
National Women’s Party –Alice Paul
Women’s Suffrage
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America’s entry into the war threatened to tear apart the
suffrage movement
Jeannette Rankin opposed war first woman member of
congress
Women in general supported the war
The National Woman’s Party was militantly fighting for
suffrage
Alice Paul compared Wilson to the Kaiser denying
democracy, chained herself to white house fence, force fed
in prison
Women’s Suffrage
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The combined efforts of women during the war won them suffrage –Wilson
finally gave in
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January 1918 Wilson withdrew his opposition to female suffrage amendment
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Took until Aug 1920 to have the amendment ratified
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72 years after goal of women’s suffrage declared at Seneca Falls in 1848
New Faces in the Workforce
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Mexicans crossed the borders for industrial jobs in
southwestern cities (100,000)
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Women joined workforce in record numbers (one million)
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Most people believed this would be a temporary change
World War I
A unit of the Women's Defense League drills in its camp at
Washington, D.C. Although some in the women's suffrage
movement refused to support the war effort until women
were granted the right to vote, other suffragists took a role
in mobilizing women into the war effort and used women's
support as an argument in favor of their enfranchisement.
Just as women used their participation in the war effort
to fight for their rights, African Americans also hoped to
use the war to improve their status. Leaders like W. E.
B. Du Bois and the NAACP officials protested strongly
when initial mobilization plans did not include African
Americans.
How did the war affect the U.S.?
•Women filled factory jobs
•Women’s war effort
helped bring about
passage of the 19th
Amendment after the war
giving women the right to
vote.
•Black soldiers still served in segregated units.
•In the “Great Migration” thousands of African
Americans moved to the North to work in factories.
Homefront Opposition
Continued after Wilson's
April address
Could be issue-specific
while remaining pro-war
Resistance to the draft
Socialist Party opposed
to the war
Homefront Opposition
Espionage Act June, 1917designed to keep resistance in
check.
Up to 20 years in prison for
disloyalty, insubordination, mutiny,
refusal to serve
Could not be used to limit
discussion or criticism of Govt.
policies or actions
Espionage Act (Sedition Act)
Act amended in 1918 to include:
"...whoever when the United States is at war, shall willfully
utter, print, write or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous,
or abusive language about the form of government of the
United States or the constitution of the United States, or the
military or naval forces of the United States, or the flag of the
United States or the uniform of the Army or Navy of the
United States...or by word or act [to] oppose the cause of the
United States."
Espionage Act (Sedition Act)
Ambiguous and
contradictory- applied
inconsistently and selectively
Upheld by US Supreme
Court
Those that spoke out against
the war or draft were often
jailed
Over 1,500 arrested
including Socialist leader
Eugene Debs
Espionage act (Sedition Act)
Other Acts imposed
included:
Trading with the Enemy Act
(1917)- Govt could censor
communications leaving US
Sabotage Act (1917)suppressed industrial action
by organizations I.e.
Industrial Workers of the
World (IWW)
Homefront Opposition
By the end of the war,
mainstream opposition to
Wilson's policies-dissection within
his party
Republicans reignited opposition
after being unified in war
Republicans took control of both
houses of congress in the 1918
elections
Did not bode well for Wilson as
he left for the PPC.
Wilson and
the Paris
Peace
Conferences
Read and take notes on pages
40-42
US Reaction to the League of Nations
Wilson returns from Paris
tired and sick
US had difficulty adjusting to
a new peace- Red Scare,
upcoming presidential
elections, labor strife,
unemployment, decreasing
economic demand
Opposition to the LoN was
strong-especially Article X
Article X of the League Covenant
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“The Members of the League undertake to respect and
preserve as against external aggression the territorial
integrity and existing political independence of all
Members of the League. In case of any such aggression
or in case of any threat or danger of such aggression the
Council shall advise upon the means by which this
obligation shall be fulfilled.”
US Reaction to the League of Nations
Partisan politics and intellectual
dissent
Would lead to entrenched old
school Balance of Power
diplomacy
LoN unrealistic; strong military
instead of disarmament
Article X would violate US
sovereignty and compel US to aid
other nations
US Reaction to the League of Nations
Reservationists - certain
Republican senators who
saw the Covenant as
workable with revisions;
alter Article X to protect US
freedom of action in foreign
policy
Irreconcilables - Senators
opposed to any form of the
Treaty or LoN
Many irreconcilables sat on
the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee
US Reaction to the League of Nations
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Head of Senate Foreign
Relations Committee
Allowed weeks of hearings in
which most were opposing
Wilson and all reported in the
press
Wilson stubbornly promoted the
LoN - gave opponents
ammunition
Wilson's arrogance hurt him
Woodrow Wilson
Thought he could persuade the US public of the righteousness of his cause
Very ill health
Embarked on exhausting cross-country speaking tour
Strain of the tour- suffered stroke in Oct. 1919
US Reaction to the League of Nations
With Wilson ill, the senate voted
against ratification (Nov. 1919Mar. 1920)
The Treaty of Versailles not
recognized by the US
US refuses membership to the
LoN
Source skills: Pages 44-46
Economic
Impact of WWI
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United States
Economic Impact in the US
Wilson dies- the last
democratic president for over
a decade
Republican foreign policy
course guarded American
interests
Avoided alliances and
entanglements internationally
Economic Impact in the US
The war had made the US the
single biggest creditor on earth mixed blessing
Great influence/huge stake in
the economic stability of the
world
US dominated exports and
markets around the world
Growing sentiment for higher
tariffs in the United States after
1920
Economic Impact in the US
Peace Progressives - small
Republican group; modified
their strictly isolationist stance;
opposed the role of businesses
in domestic and foreign policy;
decried imperialism and
militarism
As goes the US economy, so
goes the world economy
American companies bought or
leased huge chunks of land in
search of raw materials
Economic Impact in the US
Most nations weak from WWI
so limited economic
competition for the US
'Incursions' into foreign
countries and markets were
led by private enterprise –
with a helping hand from the
US government
Elements of continuity with
the prewar period
Economic Impact in the US
Review: The Washington
Treaty - signed in 1922 by the
United Kingdom, United
States, France, Italy, and
Japan, this treaty limited naval
armaments including warship
tonnage
The Washington treaty helped
short-term relations with
Japan – an important trading
partner
Economic Impact in the US
Review: The Dawes Plan - An economic recovery plan
engineered by Charles Dawes designed to address
hyperinflation in Germany.
US loans would be used to back the reevaluation of
German currency.
The plan also facilitated the flow of US capital into the
German economy.
The recovery was intended to allow Germany to
resume reparation payments for the allies.