1 / 61

II. War Begins :

II. War Begins :. The American Response : -some Americans felt personally involved – Why? 1/3 were 1 st or 2 nd generation immigrants -most Americans wanted to Allies to win – Why? Cultural ties with England Most of the news from the war came from England

afra
Download Presentation

II. War Begins :

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. II. War Begins: • The American Response: -some Americans felt personally involved – Why? 1/3 were 1st or 2nd generation immigrants -most Americans wanted to Allies to win – Why? • Cultural ties with England • Most of the news from the war came from England • Kaiser Wilhelm II, German leader, was an autocrat (ruler with unlimited power)

  2. II. War Begins: • The U.S. remained neutral at first and continued to trade with both sides -we were an isolated country at that time

  3. III. U.S. Declares War: • 3 Major Events led the U.S. to join the Allies: • Germany’s use of unrestricted submarine warfare – Ex: a. Sinking of the Lusitania (May 7, 1915) – British passenger liner sunk by a German u-boat because it was secretly carrying weapons for the Allies – 1,200 died (128 Americans)

  4. III. U.S. Declares War: b. Sinking of the Sussex (March 24, 1916) – French passenger liner sunk by a u-boat – the Germans later agreed to the Sussex Pledge (promised to warn ships before attacking) – kept the U.S. out of the war

  5. III. U.S. Declares War: • Election of 1916 – Pres. Wilson ran under the slogan “He kept us out of the war” and was re-elected • Feb. 1, 1917: Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare – thought they could defeat the British and win the war before the U.S. could make a difference

  6. III. U.S. Declares War: • Feb. 3, 1917: Wilson ended Am. neutrality by arming merchant ships – “armed neutrality”

  7. III. U.S. Declares War: • Zimmerman Note / Telegram – German foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmerman, made a secret offer to Mexico -if they would attack the U.S., then they would be given back the lost territory in TX, AZ, and NM -the note was intercepted by the British -neither Wilson nor Mexico took the note seriously -however, the American public called for war

  8. Zimmerman Note

  9. III. U.S. Declares War: • Revolution in Russia – March 1917, Czar Nicholas II was overthrown and replaced by a republican (democratic) gov’t -since a czar was no longer in power, the U.S. viewed Russia as an acceptable ally -this was the last stumbling block to a full Am. commitment to the Allies

  10. III. U.S. Declares War: • Pres. Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany saying… “The world must be made safe for democracy.” • War was declared on April 6, 1917

  11. V. Americans on the European Front: • American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) – led by Gen. John J. Pershing – arrived in Paris on June 14, 1917 – provided reinforcements to British and French troops -U.S. soldiers nicknamed doughboys

  12. V. Americans on the European Front: • The first job of the doughboys was to help England attack the German u-boats – Americans thought they would only provide naval assistance at first • Convoy system – began in May 1917 – group of unarmed merchant ships surrounded by armed naval ships – reduced number of ships sunk

  13. V. Americans on the European Front: • The Bolshevik Revolution (communist revolution in Russia – Oct. 1917) changed the involvement of Am. soldiers -led by Vladimir Lenin -Russia signed a treaty with Germany in March 1918 to drop out of the war -allowed Germany to send all troops to the Western Front -forced U.S. to send in more foot soldiers to help Allies

  14. V. Americans on the European Front: • Battle of Chateau-Thierry (June 1918) – major turning point in the war – U.S. helped French save Paris and began to push German lines back towards Germany • Battle of Argonne Forest (Sept.-Nov. 1918) – last critical battle of the war – 47 day battle – 1.2 million Allied troops began to push German lines back and eventually broke through

  15. VI. Postwar: • An armistice (cease fire) was signed on Nov. 11, 1918 (11th hour, 11th day, 11th month) • WWI Casualties: -Russia – 9 million -Germany – 7 million -France – 6 million -A-H – 7 million -England – 4 million -U.S. – 364,000

  16. VI. Postwar: • WWI’s Impact on U.S.: -lost 116,000 young men -created a distrust of foreigners -created new opportunities for women and Afr. Am’s. -higher wages -booming economy – richest nation in world

  17. VI. Postwar: • Pres. Wilson’s Plan for Peace: -to prevent future world wars he outlined his goals in his “Fourteen Points” speech before Congress – included: • Ban on secret treaties / alliances • Freedom of the seas • Reduction of arms

More Related