Transcript us imperialism and world war i

WORLD WAR I
Unit VIIC
AP United States History
Fundamental Question

To what extent was the American public
supportive of increased foreign
involvement?
Great War in Europe (1914-1919)

Archduke and wife of
Austria-Hungary
assassinated by
Serbian nationalist on
June 28, 1914
 Alliances and
ultimatums dragged
Europe into a
destructive conflict
American Neutrality and Opinion

Neutrality
 Wilson proclaims neutrality on August 4, 1914
 Preserve economic prosperity
 American loans to Allies

Opinion
 American Press favored Allies and criticized Central Powers
 Ethnic opinions based on national allegiance
 Isolationists
 Populists,
Progressives, William Jennings Bryan, Socialists, Midwest,
West, women, Jane Addams
The Path to War

German U-Boats
 Lusitania sunk on May 7, 1915
killing 128 Americans
 Sussex Pledge
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Sussex in March 1916
Wilson threatened sanctions and
Germany promised to abide by
freedom of the seas
National Security League
 Encouraged preparedness and
heightened Americanization
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German unrestricted submarine
warfare
Russian Revolution (1917)
Zimmermann Telegram (1917)
 German request for Mexico alliance
in return for lost land by U.S.

Wilson requested declaration of war
by Congress against Germany
 April 6, 1917 by near unanimous
vote
American Domestic War Effort

War Agencies
 War Industries Board

Mass production, standardization, price
and supply controls
 National War Labor Board

Representatives from labor and
business arbitrated labor disputes to
prevent disruptions
 Food Administration
 Committee on Public Information


War propaganda agency
Liberty Bonds
 Financial support for American war
effort
 Portrayed as an act of patriotic duty
American Propaganda
American Domestic Insecurity

Espionage Act of 1917
 Prohibition of:

Interfere in military operations
 Interfere in military recruitment
 Support of U.S. enemies
 Promote insubordination
 Schenk v. United States (1919)


“Clear and present danger”
Sedition Act of 1918
 In times of war:
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
Prohibit disloyal, profane,
scurrilous, abusive language
against U.S. government,
military, and flag
American Protective League
 Private organization assisted
government with surveillance
and raids on suspected radicals
and enemy sympathizers
American War Front

Selective Service Act of 1917
 Conscription of 21-31; 18-45 by 1918

American Expeditionary Force (AEF)
 Inspired to preserve democracy and defend
American honor
 General John J. Pershing
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
Convoy system
War Events
 Spring Offensive (1918)
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German offensive in Western theater
Battle of the Marne (July-August)
 Hundred Days Offensive (1918)
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Allied counteroffensive; leads to end of the fighting
Battle of the Somme (August)
Battle of Argonne Forest (Sept-Nov)
 Armistice (11/11/1918)
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German capitulation
Casualties
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117,000 Americans
1 million British,
1.6 million French,
3.3. million Russian,
2.4 million German,
2.9 million Ottoman,
1.5 million Austrian-Hungarian
Spanish Flu

Influenza Pandemic
(1918-1920)
 Infected and Deaths
 500 million infected
 20-50 million deaths

Impact and Spread
 Targeted healthy young
adults
 World War I conditions
 Mass transportation
Minorities in World War I

Women
 Factory jobs
 Military opportunities
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Rescinded after war except nurses
Blacks
 Great Migration to North
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Factory jobs
 400,000 served in AEF in
segregated units
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Mexicans
 Agricultural and mining
opportunities in Southwest and
Midwest

Germans
 Targeted as “Huns”
 Registration and internment
Wilson and Peace

Fourteen Points
 “peace without victory”
 Self-determination
 League of Nations

Treaty of Versailles
 German guilt, reparations
 League of Nations

Wilson and Senate Treaty Ratification
 Senate Opposition

Irreconcilables
 Strongly opposed the Treaty of Versailles

Reservationists
 Henry Cabot Lodge
 Amendments to Treaty to limit American
involvement
 Wilson’s Public Campaign

Wilson debilitated by a stroke from exhaustion
 Senate rejects Treaty and League of Nations
Postwar America
Economic Impact

Demobilization
 Difficult transition from war
economy to peace economy
 Recession of 1918-1919
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Depression of 1920-1921
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Overproduction
Increased labor force
Fed raised interest rates
Government decreased spending
Postwar America
Labor Unions and Strikes
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Union Membership
 Expanded with government
support during WWI
 AFL
reached 4 million by
1920
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Strikes of 1919
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Seattle General Strike
Boston Police Strike
Steel Strike
Coal Strike
Anti-union sentiment
increases
 Association with radicals
Postwar America
Race Riots

Red Summer of 1919
 Three dozen cities
experienced race riots
 Economic competition
and First Red Scare

Chicago (July-August)
 Blacks react to stoning of
young man
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Omaha (September)
 Brutal lynching of William
Brown
Postwar America
First Red Scare

Causes
 War Propaganda
 Russian Revolution
 Strikes and Riots

Targets
 Anarchists, Bolsheviks, Socialists,
Communists, Wobblies
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
1919 Bombings
Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer
 Palmer Raids
 Deportations
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Public Opinion
 Initially, Americans and press
vigorously supported raids
 Later, the public denounced violations
of civil liberties