Transcript The United States in World War I

Sunk on May 7,
1915.
1200 died, 127
were Americans
 Just after the war began, President Wilson declared
that the United States would remain neutral.
 This response was called isolationism—a policy of
not being involved in the affairs of other nations.
 The U.S. was supplying the Allies. By 1917, Britain
was purchasing $75 million worth of war goods
from American businesses each week.
 In 1915, Germany announced
that the waters around Great
Britain would be a war zone in
which Germany would destroy all
enemy ships.
 This angered most Americans and
caused tensions to rise between
the United States and Germany.
 In 1916, Wilson assured Americans that he would
not send troops to Europe.
 He proposed a “peace without victory,” which
angered the Allies.
 The Allies wanted the central powers to pay for
wartime damage and destruction.
 Germany resumed unrestricted sub warfare on
February 1, 1917, and days later, Wilson asked
Congress for the authority to install guns on U.S.
merchant ships.
Germany sent a telegram to a German official in
Mexico.
It proposed an alliance between Germany and
Mexico.
If Mexico joined Germany in the war efforts,
Germany would help Mexico reclaim lost
territory in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona.
The plan backfired.
 The British intercepted the
Zimmerman Note, decoded it, and
sent it to American officials.
 Once in the newspapers, more
Americans began to call for war
against Germany, but Wilson still
resisted.
 The Russian Revolution, and more
German sub warfare eventually
caused the U.S. to declare war on
April 6, 1917.
 On May 18, 1917, the U.S.
passed the Selective Service Act,
which required men between the
ages of 21 and 30 to register to
be drafted into the armed forces.
 The army was not ready to go to
war and had to spend time
training recruits, and obtaining
supplies.
 African American soldiers were segregated into
separate units.
 Many objected to African American soldiers
being trained to use the weapons.
 Latinos also experienced discrimination.
 Many did not speak English, and once they
completed the training for English speaking
skills, they would fight with other American
troops.
 The first U.S. troops arrived in
France in late June 1917.
 The convoy system was used to
transport the troops.
 When American troops arrived in
France, the Allies desperately
needed help and wanted the
Americans to start fighting as
soon as they arrived.
 In November 1917, the Bolsheviks took control
of Russia’s government and set up
communism.
 The leader, Lenin withdrew the Russian army
from the Eastern front and signed a peace
treaty with the central powers.
 March 1918, Germany launched a series of
attacks on the Allies.
 By late May, the Germans had pushed the
Allies back to the Marne River, 70 miles
northeast of Paris.
 American troops finally saw
combat after 12 months of
being in France.
 They soon learned to dig
trenches and set up barbed
wire.
 The American troops were a
major factor in the war.
 Some women also signed up to serve overseas.
 The U.S. Army Signal Corps recruited French
speaking American women to serve as
switchboard operators.
 They were known as “Hello Girls” and kept the
lines of communication open between the front
lines and headquarters.
During the war, more than
20,000 nurses served in the
U.S. Army.
Women also served in the
Navy and marines as
typists, bookkeepers, radio
operators, electricians, or
telegraphers.
 On July 15, 1918, the Germans
launched their last offensive at the
Second Battle of the Marne.
 During the fighting, the U.S. had
blown up every bridge the
Germans had built across the
Marne River.
 The German army retreated on
August 3.
The Allies began a
counterattack in
September 1918.
By November, the Allies
reached and occupied the
hills around Sedan,
France, near Belgium.
 By late 1918, the war was
crippling the German
economy, civilians lacked food
and supplies, food riots and
strikes broke out in Germany
and revolution swept across
Austria-Hungary.
 There was no motivation for
Central Power soldiers to fight.
 In early November, Austria Hungary signed a
peace agreement with the Allies.
 The Allies demanded that Germany leave all
territories it had occupied, surrender its
aircraft, heavy artillery, tanks, and U-boats,
and allow Allied troops to occupy some German
territories.
 On November 11, 1918 at 11:00, the armistice
went into effect, and the Great War was over.
 Some 8.5 million people had been killed, and
this was seen as the “War to end all Wars.”