America and the Great War

America and the Great War Chapter 23

I. The Road to War • The Collapse of the European Peace • Imperialism, Nationalism and Militarism • Alliances • Central Powers = Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy • Allied Powers = Triple Entente: Britain, France, Russia • Archduke Franz Ferdinand: Sarajevo, Bosnia, June 28, 1914 • The Dominos fall…

Wilson’s Neutrality • 1914 “Maintain impartial thought as well as deed” = Impossible • Social • German and Irish Americans had hatred for British • General admiration for England’s tradition and culture (Wilson) • Lurid reports of German atrocities in Belgium • Economic • United states could weather an embargo from the Central Powers, but not the Allies • War orders from Britain and France stimulated US economy • 1915 US had gone from Neutral to arsenal for the Allies • Submarines • viewed as barbaric • British passenger liner Lusitania sunk without warning, 128 Americans dead (ship was carrying passengers and munitions) • huge American war fervor • Wilson demands Central Powers recognize US neutral rights and allow passenger and trade ships • Germany in a tough spot

Preparedness Versus Pacifism • 1916 Election year • Divided factions in the US: TR v. Bryan and LaFollette • Wilson originally against military buildup, but as tensions grew with Germany he changed his mind. • “He kept us out of the war” a campaign slogan never used by the candidate himself • Wins close election

The War for Democracy • Wilson in need for support of war • new world order, a league of nations • Germans become desperate • launch a series of major assaults on the enemy’s lines in France • unrestricted submarine warfare… against all ships… to cut Britain off from vital supplies • Idea being that Allied forces would collapse before the US could intervene

The War for Democracy Continued • Two events to get the United States involved • Zimmermann telegram • Russian Revolution: US does not have to ally itself with a despotic regime • April 2, 1917 Wilson asks Congress for a declaration of war… would not receive it until April 6… dissent was strong.

II. “War Without Stint” • Entering the War • Most immediate affect seen at sea • 1917 only one out of every four British ships were returning • American Destroyers aided the British navy in its assault on the U-boats • Anti-submarine mines • Sinking of Allied Ships: April 1917: 900,000 tons / December 1917: 350,000 tons / October 1918: 112,000 • V.I. Lenin negotiates treaty with Germany • Eastern front troops would soon be available on the Western Front

The American Expeditionary Force • Army shortcomings • only 120,000 soldiers in US army in 1917 • little battle experience • Selective Service Act = Draft • 3 million men brought into the army • additional 2 million volunteer • New Army referred to themselves as The American Expeditionary Force (AEF) • Trench life = horrible

The American Expeditionary Force Again • 1/10 soldiers gets VD • Diverse fighting force • Women allowed to enlist, not allowed in combat, but played vital role in hospitals and offices • 250,000 black soldiers enlisted or drafted • segregated units • most reduced to menial tasks • tensions on the home front • The introduction of the IQ test and “morons”

The Military Struggle • intense, brief fighting: European forces exhausted • Eight months after US entry into the war in Spring 1918, the war was over • John J. Pershing (remember Poncho Villa?) • See map on page 782 for key attacks and battles • Armistice (cease fire) November 11, 1918

III. The War and American Society • Organizing the Economy for War • $32 Billion in expenses spent in war by USA… this was in a time when the entire federal budget seldom exceeded $1 billion before 1915 and GNP was only $35 billion in 1910 • “Liberty Bonds” • patriotic appeals / propaganda • produced $23 billion • New taxes brining in $10 billion • Council of National Defense organized economy into different sectors based on function rather than geographic…(transportation, food, fuel supplies)

Organizing the Economy for War • War Industries Board: wielded powers greater than any other government agency before it • Bernard Baruch • Decided which factories would convert to war production • Decided where supplies would go • appeared to be in line with Progressive ideals, but actually enhanced the private sector through a mutually beneficial alliance • prevailing belief that a close relationship between gov’t and business should continue after the war

Labor and the War • National War Labor Board est. 1918 • eight-hour day • maintenance of minimal living standards • equal pay for women doing equal work • recognition of unions to bargain collectively • workers cannot strike • businesses cannot engage in lockouts • Union membership increased by more than 1.5 million between 1917 and 1919 • 1914 Ludlow Massacre (Colorado) • miners walk out of mines owned by John D. Rockefeller • joined by wives and daughters, they go on strike • continue strike after being fired • State Militia called in to “protect” the mines • 39 people dead, 11 children

Economic and Social Results of the War • War caused a boom in the economy • Employment opportunity for women and minorities • “Great Migration” of blacks from rural South to urban centers in the North • ads in newspapers • word of mouth • Backlash from established Northern blacks • revivalist religion • feared racism from whites • Huge increases in Northern black population regardless (see p. 785) • July 2, 1917 white mob attacked a black neighborhood in St. Louis • burned houses • shot blacks as they fled • 40 African Americans dead

Economic and Social Results of the War Continued • 1 million women worked in jobs that were previously thought of as male preserves: steel, munitions, trucking, public transportation • After war was over, almost all of the women working in previously male industrial jobs quit or were fired, the result: the percentage of women working for wages actually declined between 1910 and 1920

IV. The Search for Social Unity Progressive ideal: that war would lead America to unite behind a great common cause and create a lasting sense of collective purpose

The Peace Movement • German Americans: opposed American intervention • Irish Americans: opposed any support of British • Religious Pacifists: Quakers, Mennonites and others • Socialist Party / Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies): saw war as a meaningless battle among capitalist nations for commercial supremacy

Women and The Peace Movement • Opposition • Woman’s Peace Party: Carrie Chapman Catt • Jane Addams refused to support the war, criticized as a result • “mother half of humanity” • Support • National American Woman Suffrage Association: supported the war • Catt abandon’s peace cause and calls upon the woman’s right to vote as a “war measure”

Selling the War and Suppressing Dissent • Many Americans opposed to the war prior to declaration, but make a “spontaneous decision” to support the president, the government and the “boys” overseas • floods of voluntary enlistments • women joined local Red Crosses • children buy war bonds in their schools • churches include prayers for the President and troops • Religious revivalism connected to war effort: Billy Sunday • Government leaders concerned about significant minorities who continued to oppose the war even after the United States entered it

Selling the War and Suppressing Dissent Continued • Committee on Public Information (CPI) • Distributed 75 million pieces propaganda • directed by George Creel who believed in the importance of unity • vile threats if reporters did not practice “self censorship” • started with theory of only distributing the “facts”… but tactics grew crude • The Kaiser: Beast of Berlin • The Prussian Cur • began to make efforts to suppress dissent • ran a full page ad encourage Americans to contact the justice department if they encountered anyone opposed to the war

Selling the War and Suppressing Dissent Continued Again • Espionage Act of 1917 • created stiff penalties for spying, sabotage or obstruction of the war effort • allowed the post to be censored • all Socialist print would not be mailed • Sabotage and Sedition Acts of 1918 • made illegal any public expression of opposition to the war • widely interpreted

Selling the War and Suppressing Dissent Still Continued • Biggest target was Socialist Party and IWW members • Eugene V. Debs: sentence to ten years prison in 1918 • Bill Haywood fled to the Soviet Union • 1,500 people were arrested in 1918 for the crime of criticizing the government • Vigilante Mobs assembled to “discipline” war opponents • American Protective League • 250,000 agents who pried into the activities of their neighbors: opening mail, tapping telephones • received gov’t funds for their work

Selling the War and Suppressing Dissent Concluded • Most frequent targets of repression were • Irish: expressed hopes of a German victory prior to 1917 • Jews: expressed opposition to the anti-Semitic policies of the Russian gov’t • German American Community: public opinion turns bitterly hostile, even though many Germans supported American war effort after 1917 • sauerkraut renamed “liberty cabbage” • hamburger renamed “liberty sausage” • German language removed from school curriculum • “something fundamentally wrong with the Teutonic soul”

The Search For A New World Order • The Fourteen Points • January 8, 1918 Wilson appeared before Congress to present the principles for which he claimed the nation was fighting… became known as The Fourteen Points • First: eight specific recommendations for adjusting postwar boundaries and for establishing new nations to replace defunct Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires… reflected his belief in the right of all peoples to self-determination

The Fourteen Points Continued • Second: five general principles to govern international conduct in the future • freedom of the seas • open covenants instead of secret treaties • reductions in armaments • free trade • impartial mediation of colonial claims • Third: a proposal for a league of nations that would help implement these new principles and territorial adjustments and resolve future controversies

The Fourteen Points Continued Again • Flaws • provided no formula for deciding how to implement “national self-determination” • did not address political rivalries • Reflected belief that the world was capable of just and efficient government as were individual nations, human race was capable of living in peace… reflection of Progressive Ideals • Fourteen Points was also a response to Bolshevik government in Russia • effort to keep Russia in the War • response to V.I. Lenin’s statement weeks before • Wanted the world to look to the US, not Russia for guidance

Early Obstacles • Abroad • Leaders of Allied powers were preparing to reject Wilson’s plan even before the armistice was signed • Wilson’s moral superiority • US did not become their “ally” but rather was an “associate” • Enormous amount of bitterness towards Germans from France and Britain • At Home • Republicans capture majorities in both Houses in 1918 • Domestic economic troubles • Republicans were supporting the 14 points until Wilson made it a ballot issue • Wilson did not appoint any Republicans to the negotiating team hat would represent the United States in Paris • Wilson believed the world would follow his lead

The Paris Peace Conference • Wilson looked upon as a savior in Europe… greeted by the largest crowd in Paris’s history • GB, France, Italy and US all represented at Peace conference (The Big Four) • Russia and Germany not represented (fear of Russia) • Wilson adamant about being the lone representative at the conference despite warnings • Wilson’s idealism v. national aggrandizement

The Paris Peace Conference Continued • Many of Wilson’s plans shot down: freedom of the seas, free trade • Reparations • Wilson opposed demanding compensation from the defeated Central Powers • Other Allied leaders were adamant… slowly Wilson gave way • $56 billion / crippled German economy could only pay $9 billion • Idea: never again should the Germans be allowed to become powerful enough to threaten the peace of Europe • Wilson Victories • territories under “trusteeship” • designed Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia… ethnically diverse • Allies voted to accept the “covenant” of the League of Nations

The Ratification Battle • many Americans were comfortable with their country’s isolationism… now in a new major commitment to internationalism • Treaty of Versailles “Dare we reject it and break the heart of the world?” • Wilson = refusal to change, stubborn, perhaps from a stroke? • Politics: Republicans want to make Wilson look bad… Henry Cabot Lodge attempts delay • Senate refuses to budge, Wilson takes the issue to the public

Wilson’s Ordeal • exhausting cross country speaking tour • 8,000 miles a day by train, speaking four times a day • collapses in Pueblo, Colorado • suffers major stroke in Washington • six weeks bed-ridden • Final 18 months of Presidency: paralyzed and unstable • Senate adds amendments and reservations… Wilson orders original document to be accepted or no document at all • League of Nations never passes the United States Congress

VI. A Society in Turmoil Aftermath of war did not usher in an age of liberal reform that progressives had predicted, but a period of repression and reaction

Industry and Labor • fighting ended sooner than anyone could have anticipated… gov’t contracts to businesses cut off • raging inflation in response to poor abandonment of wartime price controls • 1921: GNP declines nearly 10% • soldier returning increase # of available workforce, decrease wages

Industry and Labor Continued • 1919: over 3,600 strikes in response to employees rescinding war time benefits • January: Seattle, Washington - General Strike Achieved, US Marines intervene • September: Boston, Mass - Police force on strike, violence and looting breaks out… entire police force fired • September: greatest strike in US history 350,000 steelworkers walk of job in demand of an 8 hour day • violence from employers, hired armed guards • AFL timidly retreats • Strike collapses in January, death blow to labor • “Where is that Democracy for which we fought?”

The Demands of African Americans • AA veterans marched in the main streets of industrial cities with other returning troops, but then again through the streets of black neighborhoods, • AA community looked to them as heroes: sign that a new age had come • Little impact on white attitudes / increased black determination to fight for their rights • 1919 South: lynching increase - 70 blacks, some of them war veterans, died at the hands of white mobs • Race riots in St. Louis

The Demands of African Americans • Chicago, segregated beach on Lake Michigan, young black boy stoned to death by whites • black crowds gathered in white neighborhoods to retaliate • white crowds roamed into black neighborhoods to retaliate • Chicago at war for a week • In the end 38 people dead, 537 injured, 1,000 left homeless • New characteristic: Blacks fighting back • NAACP encouraged blacks to defend themselves • Marcus Garvey • encouraged AA to take pride in their own culture • United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) • Started black businesses • Began encouraging supporters to leave America and return to Africa • Garvey indicted in 1923 on charges of business fraud

The Red Scare • white middle class fearing of instability and radicalism • racial violence • feminists • Russian Revolution • Communist International: “Comintern” purpose to spread communist revolution around the world • Terror in the US • bombings in spring of 1919 • mail bombs

The Red Scare Continued • Results • inspired middleclass Americans to fight back against radicalism • reinforced old-stock Protestant idea of “100% Americanism” • reinforce fear: race riots = “the work of armed revolutionaries running rampant through our cities” • Steel strike = “Bolshevik idea” • Peacetime sedition laws • Spontaneous acts of violence • Restriction of press • Removal of subversive books • Against the war = criminal

The Red Scare Continued Again • Palmer Raids • Michael Palmer = Attorney General (J. Edgar Hoover was his assistant) • Raids on alleged radical centers: 6,000 people arrested / 500 non US citizens deported • Intention was to uncover huge caches of weapons, what they found was three pistols and no dynamite • Sacco and Vanzetti • 1920 two Italian immigrants charged with the murder of paymaster in Braintree, Massachusetts • questionable evidence • confessed anarchists, thus widespread presumption of guilt • trial featured “extraordinary injudiciousness” and an openly bigoted judge, Webster Thayer • August 23, 1927 amid widespread protests around the world, the two men were sentenced to die in the electric chair

The Retreat from Idealism • passage of 19th Amendment did not mark the beginning of an era of reform, but rather the ending of one • Social problems combine to create a general sense of disillusionment • economic problems • feminist demands • labor unrest • racial tensions • intensity of anti-radicalism • WW hoped the 1920 election would be a referendum on the League of Nations… Ohio Governor James M. Cox was the Democratic Candidate / FDR was VP • Harding has no ideals, but promises a “return to normalcy”

America and the Great War