what are some reasons for america’s initial neutrality
- jingoism, exceptionalism
- wilson wants re-election
- trade (ppl at war can’t produce)
groups FOR us joining ww1
- unions: ceased strikes to support the ww1 cause
- irish americans, german americans were against britain
- many others immigrants traced roots back to britain, supported allies
- anti-kaiser wilhelm of germany (moral) who was anti-democracy
- preparedness movement (american business leaders who supported preparing for war)
- national security league: promoted patriotism and national sentiment, got govt. to invest in training and arms preparedness
groups AGAINST us joining ww1
- unions: domestic issues like wages wouldn’t be addressed
- germany: didn’t want us involvement
- peace/pacifist movement: former Populists, Midwest Progressives, and social reformers
- American Union Against Militarism
- congress advocates who funded preparedness thru taxes to discourage its popularity
- Eugene v debs
- senator norris
- wilson (initially).
two types of nationalism
A: country acts in their own country’s interests
B: diverse ethnic groups (sought self gov, etc)
governing causes of ww1
militarism, alliances industrialization, imperialism, nationalism
triple entente
United Kingdom, France, and Russia
great britain & france – “Entente Cordiale”
know these ww1 war jargon terms!
- schlieffen plan (first strike strat)
- two front war
- german advance
- stalemate
- no mans land
- trench warfare
ww1 battles
1) battle of marne
french and british forces stopped german advance at river marne –> trenches
2) battle of somme
allied soldiers didn’t expect artillery like machine guns, 57k british died –> both sides accumulated up to 200k+ deaths
declaration of neutral rights
1) neutral countries can trade w/ other neutral countries
2) neutral countries can trade non-military supplies w any countries
3) neutral countries can arrange loans with any countries
4) naval warships must evacuate passengers before sinking non military ship
englands blockade
(1914)
- limits goods to neutral ports
- interferes with communication between germany and us (telegraph link)
(1915)
- blockade extended to any vessels carrying stuff to germany
- cut off us trade w/ neutral countries
(1916)
- trade jumps to 3 billion
- house-grey memorandum: If england and france call peace conference and cp refuse, us joins allies
germany sinks boats
germany declared british isles a war zone
(1915)
- british luxury liner lusitania sinks and kills 128 americans
- british passenger liner arabic sinks kills 2 americans
(1916)
- sinks french liner sussex
arabic vs sussex
arabic pledge: germany pays indemnity, signs arabic pledge that says they will not sink passenger ships without evacuation and rescue of passengers
sussex pledge: after germany violates arabic, they won’t sink anymore passenger/merchant ships
wilson’s 14 pts
- peace without victory
- right to self determination & end of colonies
- limit on size of army and navy
- recognition of rights of neutral countries & freedom of seas
- no secret alliances
- league of Nations
1917 ESCALATION
- germany unrestricted submarine warfare w/ u-boats
- zimmerman telegram
liberty bonds
special war bonds to support the allies
- initiated by mcadoo (sec of treasury) and raised 20 bill
75k 4-minute men
artists, actors
boys/girls scouts
industry shift
commercial –> war industry
wilson set up ‘dollar-a-year- men’ to take up agency posts
war industry board: war production, resources, manufacturing, prices
war trade board: licensed foreign trade, punished firms suspected of dealing w/ enemy
national war labor board: settled labor disputes disrupting the war
war labor policies board: set standards for wages, hours, and working conditions in war industries
food & fuel
- lever food & fuel control act gave prez power to manage production of food and fuel
- food administration (price controls, rationing), voluntary restraint, gospel of clean plate
- fuel administration (daylight saving time)
committee of public information
George Creel - rallying war effort and patriotism
produced short films, pamphlets, posters for recruitment & bonds
- newspapers super pro-war, govt made things copyright free and newspaper recycled information
fear of foreigners
- german embassy member left a briefcase with plans to disrupt american economies and turn the americans against the allies
- 100% americanism – NSL (override wilson’s veto for immigrant literacy test)
- hate the huns / lynching of Robert Prager
american protective association: rooting out German ties
legislative action during ww1 for loyalty
Espionage Act (1917): illegal to interfere with the draft
Sedition Act (1918) –sedition is any speech or action encouraging rebellion– made it illegal to obstruct Liberty bond sale or speak negatively about the government
government pursued 1.5k prosecutions and had 1k conviction
changes in lifestyle & labor
- military became more normalized
- women and afram filled jobs & became more involved in society (jobs, war involvement)
POST WAR:
- initial economic downturn, then boom
- 4k servicemen were being mustered out a day, but there was no plan to help these troops merge back into society
- federal agencies controlling economies abruptly cancelled war contracts
- women who took up mens jobs had to leave/were fired
- black soldiers didn’t receive same respect as white soldiers
paris peace conference
David Lloyd George (GB)
George Clemenceau (France)
Vittorio Orlando (Italy)
allies wanted CP to pay with lands, goods, livestock, money, and colonies
League of Nations controversy
(1) drag America into unpopular foreign wars and
(2) take Congress’ power over declaring war away
irreconcilables – could not accept the treaty and believed the League would threaten American independence
> Senators Borah and Johnson
reservationist – accepted the League but wanted reservations/restrictions on American participation
> henry lodge
afram contribution to war
graves registration service: men dissenter fallen soldiers
92nd infantry division: distinguished afram combat soldiers condemned by white southerners
369 regiment (harlem hellfighters): transfered afram soldiers to france – best record of any american unit
