Transcript Slide 1 - Garrett College

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U.S. declared war on Germany in April,
1917
With more and better-prepared troops
plus war materiel, we were able to help
break the stalemate
England and France were in great need
of help because Russia pulled out of the
war in 1917
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The Russian Revolution had started in
Russia and the people wanted out of
World War I
Vladimir Lenin had made a deal with
Germany that said if Lenin came to
power in Russia, he would pull Russia
out of the fighting
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In return, Germany would help transport
Lenin back into Russia; Lenin had been
in Europe
Lenin also had to sign the Treaty of
Brest-Litovsk with Germany
• This gave Germany a good third of western
Russia where the population was great,
resources were plentiful, and factories were
concentrated
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Russian people wanted peace and bread
Lenin promised them this and got into
power
The Tsar had abdicated would soon be
killed along with his family
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The final great battle of the war was along a
24-mile line in the Argonne Forest near the
French – German border
Over 1 million American “doughboys”, as they
were called, were there on 11 November 1918
when Germany surrendered
That day became known as Armistice Day
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Germany surrendered because their
Kaiser fled, her people were starving,
and sailors were mutinying
After the armistice was signed, Germany
was placed in the hands of democratic
leaders who formed the Weimar
Republic
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The winners of the war generally wanted
revenge
They wanted to destroy Germany’s
military and economic strength
They wished to totally blame Germany
for the war
Peace Talks
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Began in January 1919
They were held at Versailles
The three main leaders at the
conference were Georges Clemenceau
of France, David Lloyd George of Great
Britain, and Woodrow Wilson of the
United States
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Clemenceau and George wanted
revenge
Wilson wanted a just peace; he felt if
Germany was backed into a corner, that
at a future date, she would lash out
again
Wilson wanted his 14 Points for how to
conduct world affairs accepted
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However, the only point of the 14 Points
that Wilson got into the treaty was the
one promoting a League of Nations
(precursor to the United Nations)
Generally, the treaty was out for revenge
and was harsh
Terms of the Treaty of
Versailles
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German army was limited to 100,000 men who
would serve long stints in the army
Germany could not have an air force or
submarines
Austria could not merge with Germany
Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman
Empire were broken up and new boundaries
were set: Czechoslovakia, Poland etc.
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Germany had to pay reparations – pay
for the entire cost of the war - $33 billion
or 132 billion gold marks
Germany was blamed totally for the war
Germany was humiliated
Germany felt forced to sign; her people
were starving
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All nations that took part in the peace
conference with the exception of the
U.S. signed the treaty
The U.S. did not sign primarily because
it did not like the idea of a League of
Nations; U.S. didn’t want to join an
alliance and this seemed like an alliance
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Wilson went on a whistle stop tour of the
United States urging the people to write
Congress and tell them to sign the treaty
The stress proved too great and Wilson
suffered a massive stroke; he then
returned to Washington debilitated
Results of World War I
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Weakened League of Nations because U.S.
was not in it
Communist Russia
Shaky S.E. Europe; the newly formed nations
were unstable
U.S. isolationism
Britain refused to help France in future conflicts
France was alone sharing a border with
Germany; no support
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Germany was disarmed and humiliated
Germans did not like the Weimar
Republic that had formed upon the
signing of the armistice
U.S. Home Front
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Some were for going to war; others were
against it
Teddy Roosevelt wanted to fight and
lead men into battle
Republican Progressives wanted
neutrality
After war was declared, most supported
it even if they thought it was a mistake
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Government grew ; new agencies were
created to conduct the business of the
war
5,000 new agencies were set up over a
20-month period; some were effective
and some were useless
• Aircraft Production Board – failure because it
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could not produce the 22,000 planes ordered
in one year; it did produce 1500
Shipping Board – successfully produced
vessels twice as fast as the Germans could
sink them
U.S. Railway Administration – Wilson’s sonin-law efficiently reorganized the railroads
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War Industries Board
• Headed by Wall St. millionaire, Bernard
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Baruch
Many production boards were housed under
this agency
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Food Administration
• Headed by millionaire, Herbert Hoover
• Successful agency
• Organized food production, distribution, and
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consumption
American farms were to feed the U.S., Allied
Armies, and European civilians
Hooverized
• No rationing took place in U.S.
• Hoover established Wheatless Mondays,
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Meatless Tuesdays, Porkless Wednesdays
The savings were sent overseas
He promoted ways of fixing leftovers
He asked Americans to plant Victory Gardens
Farmers bought and cultivated more land
Foodstuffs greatly increased
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Selective Service Act was passed in May
of 1917
• Registration was compulsory for all men
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between 21 and 45 (age lowered to 18 in
1918)
2 million volunteers and 3 million drafted
21,000 draftees claimed conscientious
objectors status on religious grounds
• 4,000 of those were assigned to non•
combatant duty
500 were imprisoned for refusing any service;
they were treated poorly and some remained
in jail until1933
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Labor
• Samuel Gompers, head of the AFL, was given
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a seat on the War Industries Board
He agreed to a no-strike policy during the war
Business boomed and wages rose
There was a rise in union membership
African-Americans
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Wartime jobs in the north prompted a
massive migration of Southern Blacks to
northern cities
Race riots resulted in some northern
cities
• “Red Summer of 1919” – race riots in 2 dozen
cities and towns in the U.S.
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African-Americans also served in the
army
• in segregated units
• Some with Black leaders saw combat
• Most dug trenches and loaded trucks
Women
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Armed forces inducted woman as nurses
and clerical workers
They also worked in factories in jobs
formerly closed to them
They worked as trolley operators,
delivery truck drivers, street cleaners,
directors of traffic,
Built planes etc.
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Was controversial for some men who
remained at home
• Women worked faster
• Women produced more
• This made the men look bad
When the war was over, women were expected
to return to the home, their “proper sphere”
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Women’s war efforts resulted in the
passage of women’s suffrage, the 19th
Amendment; it was presented on 4 June
1919 and ratified in 1920
Carrie Chapman Catt said that war had
liberated women
Prohibition
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Gained strength during the war
Liquor used needed grain
Many Germans ran U.S. breweries
• Germans wished to show they were 100%
American, so they voluntarily cut back on
grain used or stopped brewing beer during
war
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Hooverizing, moralism, and insistence
on being 100% American resulted in the
passage of the 18th Amendment in
December of 1917 -- Prohibition
Attack on Civil Liberties
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Committee on Public Information
• Propaganda agency created by Wilson
• Used to shape and mobilize public opinion
• Wrote anti-German tracts
• Promoted self-censorship of press
• Encouraged spying on a person’s neighbors
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Espionage and Sedition Acts
• Loosely worded laws that gave the
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government wide authority to prosecute critics
of the war ( walked on our freedom of speech)
There were numerous arrests, mainly
newspaper editors
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There was also vigilantism ; people were
intimidated into silence
During the war, the Wilson
Administration concentrated on
suppressing the IWW and the Socialist
Party
The Supreme Court upheld the
Espionage and Sedition Acts
Red Scare
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After the Bolshevik Revolution in late
1917, American hatred for Germany was
transferred to the Communists of Russia
Many applied the term “Red” to all
radicals, war critics, union leaders, and
reformers
After the war, a wave of labor strikes
stimulated the “Red Scare”
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Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer,
created the F.B.I. to fight it
Inspired more vigilantism
Palmer Raids, January of 1920 showed
blatant disregard for civil liberties in raids
without search warrants
Palmer soon lost credibility with his
exaggerated tactics
Experience of the War
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Exposed the differences of the American
people and deep divisions among them
The government intervened in the
economy and influenced people’s lives
as never before
Left the U.S. the world’s leading
economic power and largest trading
nation
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The military became more professional
The international system that took hold
was unstable
It undercut progressivism and reform
Election of 1920
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Warren G. Harding ran against James
M. Cox
Harding won with his “Return to
Normalcy”