World War I (not the big one)

Timeline
U.S. enters war April 1917
German submarines aggressively attack allied ships
Convoy system helps significantly reduce shipping losses
Russia drops out of war November 1917- Bolshevik Revolution (Lenin becomes leader)
Germany concentrates all their efforts on the western front- launch massive offensive March
1918- unable to reach Paris
American troops begin arriving June 1918- 10,000 a day
Germans surrender November 1918
Origins of War in Europe
• Nationalism
• Economic rivalries and Imperialism
• The Alliance System: began in 1890’s- Germany and Austria-Hungary,
and the Ottoman Empire(Central Powers) on one side and Russia,
France and United Kingdom, Italy, and Serbia on the other
• Militarism
Flashpoint of War
Assassination of Archduke Francis
Ferdinand- June 28, 1914- he was
killed in Sarajevo by Slavic
nationalists
Fighting in Europe
• Trench Warfare- new style of fighting
• Naval Blockade- British blocked north Sea; Germans couldn’t defeat
British Navy so they used submarines to prevent ships from bringing
supplies to Great Britain
• Tanks- were new and not very effective
• Airplanes- mostly used for reconnaissance
• Submarines- used in WW1 very effective by Germans; U-boats
• Convoy system- used to protect ships in Atlantic- had naval and air
escorts
• Larger ships with longer range guns
Causes for America to go to War
• Wilson kept America neutral was re-elected 1916 with campaign slogan- “He kept us out of war”
eventually US enters war in April 1917;
• German atrocities and Allied Propaganda; German invasion of Belgium and treatment of their
people
• U.S. closer to Britain and France; language, political system; trade with Britain and France
• Sinking of Lusitania – May 7, 1915 more than 1000 passengers killed- 128 Americans, 94 children
• Germany declares unlimited submarine warfare 1917- German leaders thought they could
defeat Britain and France before U.S. could enter and be effective- main reason US entered the
war.
• Zimmerman Telegram- march 1917; Arthur Zimmerman German Foreign minister sends
telegraph to Mexico telling them to join Germany and they will get Texas, New Mexico, and
Arizona back after war
• Germany sinks several U.S. unarmed merchant ships-March 1917
• Wilson Addresses congress and obtains declaration of War
• April 1917- U.S. enters war
America prepares for War
• Mobilization- keep American troops together AEF (American Expeditionary force) under
command of General Pershing
• Selective Service Act- conscription (the draft); 10 million men registered; 3 million men
were drafted; another 2 million volunteered
• Committee of Public Information- created posters, printed pamphlets; propaganda- one-
sided information designed to persuade listeners
• Espionage Act 1917; Censorship of mail; punish those who interfere with the draft
• Sedition Act; prohibited use of disloyal language; Supreme court in Schenck v. U.S. ruled
that free speech could be restricted whenever a clear and present danger was evident.
Cant yell fire in a crowded theater
• War Industries Board- coordinated Americas wartime manufacturing
• Food Administration- production and distribution of food; headed by Herbert Hoover
• Railroad Administration- Gov’t took over the railroads
• War Labor Board- mediated disputes between owners and workers
• War Bonds also known as Liberty Bonds- patriotic act to buy bonds
The Fourteen Points
• January 1918- Wilson gives speech to Congress expressing how war
should be a crusade for democracy:
- Freedom of the seas
- Equal trade among all nations
- Reduction of national armaments
- Independent Poland be erected
- A general association of nations must be formed
Treaty of Versailles (June 28, 1919)

• Treaty Harsh on Germany

• Germany lost territory to France and Poland, and lost all of its colonies
• Germany lost its navy; army reduced to size of police force
• Germans forced to sign “war guilt” clause accepting blame for starting war- had
to pay massive reparations to allies
• Austria-Hungary divided into smaller national states
• Turkey became a republic; Ottoman empire lost most of its territories
• U.S. rejects Treaty of Versailles and does not join League of Nations- signed
separate peace treaty with Germany 1921
• League of Nations; An organization of nations that would defend each other
against aggressors- Wilson returned home from Versailles and needed 2/3 of
senate to ratify the treaty. 1918 Republicans gained control of senate; They
rejected the treaty
Experience of Minorities
• Women:
• January 1917 Jeanette Rankin became first woman in congress
• Sold war bonds, served as nurses overseas,
• took men’s jobs in factories
• German Americans:
• Faced prejudice in America; ¼ population was from German descent
• American Indians:
• About 6,000 volunteered; another 6,000 were drafted; they were integrated into white units
• Citizenship Act 1919- Indians who served in armed forces could become U.S. citizens
• Jewish Americans:
• Faced prejudice- Formed Anti-Defamation League to oppose anti-Semitism and religious prejudice
• Although they represented only 3% of total population- they made up 5% of the Army
• American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee raised over $63 million in relief funds
• African Americans:
• July 1917 New York 15,000 marched to protest Jim Crow laws and lynchings in the south
• Not integrated with other units
• First two Americans to receive French Croix De Guerre for heroism were African Americans- Henry Johnson & Needham Roberts
• Great Migration- Thousands of African Americans left south to move north for jobs in factories and Midwest for jobs on farms
• Asian Americans:
• 1917- about 180,000 living in America- 3 major groups- Japanese, Chinese, and Filipinos
• Those who served could become naturalized citizens
• Immigration Act of 1917- barred ant further Japanese or Chinese immigration