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Explore the causes and effects of American intervention in Mexico and the Caribbean, as well as the reasons behind the United States' entry into World War I. Discuss Woodrow Wilson's diplomatic strategies and the factors contributing to the outbreak of the war.
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World War I Chapter 14
I Can Statements • Discuss the causes and results of American intervention in Mexico and the Caribbean. • Explain the causes of WWI and why the United States entered the war.
The United States Enters World War I In 1914, nationalism, militarism, imperialism, and entangling alliance combine with other factors to lead the nations of Europe into a brutal war. The war quickly stretched around the globe. The United States remained neutral at first but ended up abandoning its long tradition of staying out of European conflicts.
Woodrow Wilson’s Diplomacy • Wilson intended to take US foreign policy in a different direction. • He strongly opposed imperialism. • He promised that the US would “never again seek one additional foot of territory by conquest,” but would instead work to promote “human rights, national integrity, and opportunity.” • He called this “moral diplomacy.”
Woodrow Wilson’s Diplomacy • However, Wilson will use the military on a number of occasions to guide Latin Americans in the direction that he thought proper. • 1915, he sent Marines to Haiti to protect American investments and to guard against the potential of German or French aggression in the nation. • He convinced the government of Haiti to sign an agreement that essentially gave the US the rights to control its financial and foreign affairs. • Marines did not leave until 1934.
Woodrow Wilson’s DiplomacyMexican Revolution • In 1913, General Victoriano Huerta seized power and executed Francisco Madero’s government • Under “dollar diplomacy” Taft would have recognized Huerta as the leader of Mexico because Huerta pledged to protect American investments.
Woodrow Wilson’s Diplomacy • But under “moral diplomacy,” Wilson refused to do so, declaring that he could not accept a “government of butchers.” • Instead, Wilson favored Venustiano Carranza, another reformer, who had organized anti-Huerta forces. • 1914—the President used the Mexican arrest of American sailors as an opportunity to help Carranza attain power.
Woodrow Wilson’s Diplomacy • Wilson sent the Marines to occupy the port of Veracruz. • This caused Huerta’s government to collapse, and Carranza to assume the presidency. • Huerta’s fall from power was cheered by many Mexicans and appeared to validate Wilson’s “dollar diplomacy.”
Woodrow Wilson’s Diplomacy • However, Wilson faced more problems in Mexico. • Carranza’s government was slow to bring about reforms and new rebel emerged, Francisco “Pancho” Villa. • 1916 Villa’s forces crossed into New Mexico and raided the town of Columbus, leaving 18 Americans dead.
Woodrow Wilson’s Diplomacy • Wilson sent General John J. Pershing and 10,000 troops on an “expedition” to Mexico. • Pershing failed to capture Villa. • Wilson eventually withdrew American troops in 1917, over concerns about World War I raging in Europe. • Pershing took control of the American Expeditionary Force in France. • World War I would test our global strength.
What Caused World War I? • Until 1914, there hadn’t been a large-scale European conflict for nearly 100 years. • Bitter and deep rooted problems simmered beneath the surface of polite diplomacy. • Europe was sitting on a powder keg of nationalism, regional tension, economic rivalries, imperial ambitions, and militarism.
Militarism-huge buildup of armed forces • Alliances: Countries signed treaties in which if one country is attacked, all others would come to its defense. • Examples: • Triple Entente-GB, France, and Russia • Triple Alliance-Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary • By 1914, almost no nation in Europe could become involved in a war without the whole continent being dragged in to it. • Imperialism: • Industrial output, trade, and possession of an overseas empire were the measurements of wealth and greatness. • The leading industrial nations competed for lands rich in raw materials as well as places to build military based to protect their empires.
Nationalism • Nationalism or devotion to one’s nation, kick-started international and domestic tension. • Europeans began to reject the earlier idea of a nation as a collection of different ethnic groups. • Instead they believed that a nation should express nationalism of a single ethnic group. • This evolved into an intense form of nationalism that heightened international rivalries. • Example: France long to avenge its humiliating defeat by a collection of German states in 1871 and regain the lost territory of Alsace-Lorraine.
What Caused World War I • Nationalists place primary emphasis on promoting their homeland. • One basic idea of nationalism is self-determination, the idea that people who belong to a nation should have their own country. • This led to a crisis in the Balkans.
What Caused World War ICrisis in the Balkans • Historically, the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire had ruled the Balkans, which was made up of different nations. • As nationalism became a powerful force in the 1800s, the different groups began pressing for independence. • Among them were Serbs, Bosnians, Croats, Slovenes were among them. They called themselves South Slavs. • Serbia was the first to gain independence and they believed it was their mission to unite the Slavs.
What Caused World War I • Europeans felt war was inevitable; the question remained “when.” • In preparation, leaders increased the size of their armies and stockpiles of weapons. • No nation readied its war machine like Germany. • By 1914, it had a huge standing army and the largest, most deadly collection of guns in the world.
What Caused World War I • It also built up its navy enough to rival Britain’s, the world’s strongest at the time. • So, Britain increased the size of its navy. • A spirit of militarism, or glorification of the military, grew in the competing countries and fueled this arms race.
What Caused World War I • The contest between Germany and Britain at sea and between Germany, France, and Russia on land guaranteed the next war would involve more troops and more technologically advanced weapons than ever before. • Machine guns, mobile artillery, tanks, submarines, and airplanes would change the nature of warfare.
What Caused World War I-The Spark! • On June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife Sophie journeyed to visit Sarajevo, the capital city of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia. • Within the province, there was a Serbian nationalist group who believed Bosnia rightfully belonged to Serbia, and saw Ferdinand as a tyrant. • They were called the “Black Hand.”
What Caused World War I • When the archduke’s driver made a wrong turn, GavriloPrincip, one of the conspirators, noticed the couple, pulled a pistol, and fired twice. • First Sophie and then Francis Ferdinand died. • People around the world were shocked by the senseless murders. • However, no one expected that they would lead to a great world war.
The Fighting Begins • Everything was in place for a great conflict— nationalistic ambitions, large armies, stockpiles of weapons, alliances, and military plans. • Archduke Francis Ferdinand assassination was the incident that triggered the conflict. • Soon after the assassination, Kaiser William II, the German emperor, assured Austria-Hungary that Germany would stand by its ally if war came.
The Fighting Begins • With German support, Austria-Hungary then sent a harsh ultimatum to Serbia demanding Serbia’s total cooperation in an investigation into the assassination. • Serbia did not agree to all the demands. • Austria-Hungary declared war on July 28, 1914. • Because of the alliance system the localized quarrel spread quickly.
The Fighting Begins • In August, Russia mobilized for war to help its ally Serbia, against Austria. • This caused Germany to declare war against Russia. • France, Russia’s ally, promptly declared war against Germany. • The next day, Germany declared war against neutral Belgium, so that it could launch an invasion of France through that country.
The Fighting Begins • Great Britain, which had ties with France and Belgium immediately declared war against Germany. • In less than 1 week, the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary were at war against the Allied Powers of Britain, France, Russia, and Serbia. • The Ottoman Empire would later join the Central Powers.
The Fighting Begins • Germany had long been prepared for war against France and Russia. • They immediately launched a massive invasion of France, hoping to knock the French out of the war. • German soldiers fought through Belgium and moved southwest into France toward Paris.
The Fighting Begins • In September, with the German advance only 30 miles from Paris, the French and the British counterattacked and stopped the German forces near the Marne River. • After the Battle of the Marne, the Germans settled into high ground, dug trenches, and fortified their positions.
The Fighting Begins • When the British and French attacked, the German troops used machine guns and artillery to kill thousands of them. • The French and British then dug their own trenches and used the same weapons to kill thousands of counterattacking Germans. • Soon 450 miles of trenches stretched like a huge scar from the coast of Belgium to the border of Switzerland.
The Fighting Begins • Although fighting went on in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and in other parts of the world, this Western Front in France became the critical battle front. • The side that won there would win the war. • The war dragged on for years, and it was deadly—much more than anyone expected.
The Fighting Begins • The primary reason for the length of the war and its deadly nature was the simple fact that the defensive weapons of the time were much better and more devastating than the offensive ones. • Generals on both sides threw their soldiers into assaults against the enemy without fully considering new technology.
The Fighting Begins • Charging toward trenches that were defended by artillery, machine guns, and rifles was useless. • In virtually every battle on the Western Front, the attacking force suffered terribly. • Even the use of poison gas did nothing to benefit the offense, despite its horrifying effects.
The Fighting Begins • Ineffective offensives and effective defenses produced only a deadly stalemate. • The stalemate led to gruesome conditions for men in the trenches of the Western Front. • Soldiers battled the harsh conditions of life often as fiercely as they attacked the enemy.
The Fighting Begins • They developed “trench foot” from standing for hours in wet, muddy trenches. • They contracted lice from millions of rats that infested the trenches. • Dug into the ground, soldiers lived in constant fear, afraid to pop their heads out of their holes and always aware the next offensive might be their last.
