WWI-WWII

1. WWI-WWII RohitLal, Hailey Parker, Rachel Bouvier, Spenser Stites

2. Pre-war America • After split in Republican Party due to Roosevelt and Taft’s “outbreak” over Republican nomination in Chicago, Democrats, who haven’t had office since 1897, had an excellent chance to win with their new reformist leader, Woodrow Wilson • Wilson wins the election of 1912 as a result of Roosevelt’s split; has less votes than Taft/Roosevelt combined

3. Woodrow Wilson • Nominated for governor by New Jersey political bosses because he was respectable • Once he became governor, his incredible leadership power made him immediately popular, people spoke of making him president • Promoted “New Freedom” which favored small enterprise, entrepreneurship, and free functioning of unregulated and unmonopolized markets. Focused on economic reform to fix social issues

4. Wilson in Office • Even before arriving in office, Wilson already knew what he wanted to do • Focused on an all out assault on “the triple wall of privilege”: the tariff, the banks, and the trusts • First focused on tariff by passing the Underwood Tariff Bill to reduce tariff rates substantially. Reduced import fees drastically

5. Wilson in Office • The recent 16th Amendment allowed Congress to pass a graduated income tax, which, by 1917, generated more revenue than tariffs. • Wilson next focused on the inadequate banking system still based on the Civil War era National Banking Act • Wilson, in 1913, signed the Federal Reserve Act which revolutionized the banking system by enacting a series of government controlled banks called “Federal Reserves” which existed to fix any possible issues which come up by increasing money in circulation

6. Wilson in Office • Finally Wilson focused on taming the trusts. Wilson’s work against trusts started with the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 which empowered a commission to randomly search various commerce based companies such as meatpackers • Wilson also passed the the Clayton Anti-Trust Act which extended the Sherman Act’s list of acts deemed “trustworthy.”

7. Wilson’s Progressivism • Wilson also focused on progressivism like the last few presidents had been. Influenced by the Populists, he made credit available to farmers at low interest rates through the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916 • The Warehouse Act of 1916 authorized loans on the staple crops, also influenced by the Populists • Wilson knew that, in order to win the election of 1916, he needed to be the “Progressive Candidate.”

8. Wilson’s Foreign Policy • Wilson hated both Roosevelt’s “Big Stick” ideology and Taft’s “Dollar Diplomacy.” He immediately proclaimed that the government would no longer provide Latin America and China with special support • He also repealed the Panama Canal Tolls Act which had previously exempted America from shipping tolls in the Canal • Wilson’s attempts at neutrality was threatened as he was forced to send American troops to Haiti when American property there was threatened by Haitian revolutionaries

9. Meanwhile… • Revolutions in Mexico were taking place as well • Wilson tried to keep us out, but was forced into it when a group of American sailors was arrested in Mexico. • Even though they immediately apologized, Wilson was determined to eliminate the Mexican leader. • Recklessly ordering the navy to attack Vera Cruz, Wilson was saved from war when Huerta collapsed due to pressure from Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Ruined relationship with Mexico for a long time.

10. Shots Fired in Europe • Meanwhile, while Wilson was focused on taming the dominant trusts, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated by a Serbian patriot. • The result was a huge chain reaction, starting with Russia backing Serbia, and Germany attacking France through Belgium. The English, scared that the assault on Belgium opened them up to an invasion from Germany, was forced to back up France

11. Shots Fired in Europe • Almost overnight, Europe was locked into a huge war, pitting the Central Powers: Germany Austria-Hungary, and later Turkey and Bulgaria, against the Allies: France, Britain, Russia, and later Japan and Italy • Americans were extremely thankful that they were out of Europe and separated by an ocean. • Wilson, whose wife had also recently died, issued neutrality and called for Americans to stay neutral in thought.

12. American Thoughts on War • Most Americans were anti-German, due to their autocratic styles • They were against Kaiser Wilhelm II’s bellicose invasion through the neutral state of Belgium. • Many Germans and Austrians in America sabotaged industry work and fought against America. • Even though most Americans were pro-Ally, they almost all wanted to stay out of the horrid war.

13. American Recession • When Europe first broke into fighting , America was broke • America was free to trade with both sides of the war, and would have if not for English blockades on Atlantic German ports • American trade with the desperate English and French helped boost us out of recession • Germans were angry about getting the short end of the stick from supposedly America, so they sent deadly U-Boats , or submarines, at American ships

14. American Neutrality Threatened • German U-boats succeeded in angering the Americans. • The ship ignored previous rules of naval warfare by sinking ships without warning • The Lusitania, a British passenger ship carrying 1200 people and 128 Americans, was sunk, leaving all of them dead. After the Lusitania was sunk by Germans, Americans started considering fighting back, but Wilson stood by neutrality, instead settling with a deal made with Germany which forced them to stop sinking innocent ships without warning

15. Election of 1916 • Teddy Roosevelt was again nominated by the Progressives, but refused to run for president due to his pure hatred of Wilson • The Republicans nominated Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans. Had a bad habit of flipping his views based on the views of the people he was speaking to • The Democrats nominated Wilson again, who fought on an anti-war campaign. • Wilson won the election barely, with the electoral college votes tallying 277/254

16. Americans Forced to Fight • On January 31, 1917, the Germans declared they would sink all ships, including American ones, in the war zone. • Germans couldn’t afford to have to make the distinction between combatants and noncombatants • Americans also intercepted the Zimmerman note, a note written by German foreign secretary Andrew Zimmerman, proposing a secret Mexican-German Alliance in hopes of taking back Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona

17. Americans Forced to Fight • One last reason America was hesitant to fight was Russia • Americans didn’t want to fight alongside Russia, as fighting for democracy alongside the czars of Russia would be hypocritical • When the Bolsheviks overthrew the cruel czars, America felt more comfortable fighting with the Allies • Americans finally forced to declare war on April 6, 1917

18. Neutrality Overthrown • American people were still very anti-war even though Wilson felt it was necessary • This resulted in a lot of pro-war propaganda by the government and by a man named George Creel • Creel organized closed to 150,000 people, half of which who were sent around the nation delivering speeches about the war, to generate support for the war • Extremely successful

19. Wilson’s Fourteen Points • Wilson organized 14 points which he delivered enthusiastically to Congress • The first 5, the most relevant, involved abolition of secret treaties, freedom of the seas, removal of economic barriers post-war, armament reductions, and colonial readjustment • Wilson’s last point foreshadowed his planned League of Nations, an international organization for peace

20. American Factories • Americans were, even though notified heavily, not fully prepared for war • Shipbuilding factories and other attempts at growing the American army, relatively small compared to the other powers of the war, grew extremely relevant • American labor unions also effected the war drastically • While AF of L, the largest labor union of the time, supported the war, others didn’t, and acted extremely radically

21. American Workers • In 1919, the greatest strike in American history rocked the steel industry • Over 250,000 American steelworkers went on strike in hopes of forcing employers to recognize the right of workers to organize and bargain as a group • Steel companies resisted and hired cheap labor, African Americans, to replace the workers • After the strike collapsed, the union movement was ruined for decades

22. Suffrage Fights • Women were also ferociously active during the war time • Many progressive-era women were pacifists, and thus, anti-war by nature • The women were seemingly successful as Wilson proclaimed suffrage for women a “vitally necessary war measure.” • In 1920, women were given the right to vote through the 19th Amendment

23. War Economy at Home • Families at home were encouraged to help the war effort by partaking in “heatless Mondays, lightless nights, and gasless Sundays” to preserve fuel • Herbert Hoover, the leader of the Food Administration and the war effort at home, preferred to take an approach asking for voluntary aid rather than forcing Americans to help

24. War Censorship • The war also prompted a time of extreme government censorship • Random German-Americans were occasionally beaten • The Espionage Act of 1917, and the Sedition Act of 1918, were used to justify picking out Socialist Americans and prosecuting them • In the case of Schenck v. United States, the Supreme Court affirmed the legality of these acts by arguing that freedom of speech could be revoked when the speech posed a threat to the nation

25. Bulking up our army • Wilson was very anti-draft, and was extremely hesitant to submit to one but did eventually send a bill proposing one through Congress when he realized it was necessary. • The draft was extremely effective in bulking up America in time for fights • For the first time in American history, women served in the war. • African Americans were also accepted to fight, but only in segregated units under white leaders

26. Fighting in France • The Germans predicted accurately how unready America was for war • They knew how small our military was,and that if we were able to make one, it would take forever to get it to Europe • Once American troops made it to France, they helped fight back German invasions • American troops also fought in Belgium, Italy, and Russia, in order to keep these states from falling to Germany • Germany’s invasion into France was a huge threat, as it was 40 miles from Paris, the capital. American soldiers, having finally arrived, were able to help the French hold off the Germans.

27. Victory in Sight • With the help of the Americans, Europe was able to hold down the seemingly unstoppable German Juggernaut • Even though the Americans did help fight on the battlefield, the main role of Wilson was to be a moral leader for the world • Germans were ready to surrender as blockades led to food shortages and their allies were limiting • On November 11th, 1918, the Germans officially surrendered • The Americans main role was sending supplies, such as oil, food, and ammunition to the Allies in need, as well as fighting alongside the Allies as a secondary

28. The Paris Peace Conference • Wilson’s decision to go to Paris angered Republicans and neglected to include a single Republican Senator in his peace delegation, even though Congress was mainly Republican • Henry Cabot Lodge was put on the team by angry Republicans, and he and Wilson were immediate enemies • A treaty needed to be decided upon quickly, as Bolshevik Russia was leaking communism into the rest of Europe and was causing Europeans to break out into anarchy • Wilson’s ultimate goal was a world peace group known as the League of Nations

29. Territorial Issues • An issue that came with making peace was the issue of territories • Wilson’s 14 points were very anti-colonization, but lots of conquered territory is to come out of any war, especially one as large as this one • Territories on the borders of France and Germany were highly contested, as well as Middle Eastern state that had managed to get involved in the war • Wilson’s self-determination ideals angered other leaders. Leaders weren’t able to keep territories that were “rightfully” theirs due to Wilson’s attempts at compromise

30. The Finished Result • The finished Treaty of Versailles was sent to the Germans in June of 1919 • Germans were outraged at the sanctions placed on them as a result of their failures, and Hitler would soon meet the demands of the German people, whether or not it obeyed the treaty. • When Wilson returned, views were very split on the treaty • Some thought it too harsh, while others thought it not harsh enough. Regardless, Wilson’s treaty dealings lowered his popularity amongst the people drastically

31. League of Nations Issues • Wilson’s propositions were immediately shot down by Republicans • While most of Senate, Republican or Democrat, agreed that the League of Nations was a good idea, it was simply too hard to come up with an agreement on the terms of the proposal • The main issue was that the League of Nations forced the US into a binding agreement that, if any other country committed an act of aggression, the US would help fight against the aggressor. This pact took away Congress’ power to declare war • The League of Nations eventually failed to pass, as Wilson was too stubborn to let the League of Nations pass with the edits and told all the Democrats in Congress to vote no, and Lodge was too stubborn to let it pass without

32. The Election of 1920 • Senator Warren G. Harding was nominated by the Republicans with Calvin Coolidge • Governor James M. Cox of Ohio is nominated by the Democrats with Franklin Delano Roosevelt • Eugene V Debs nominated by Socialist Party • Harding easily wins the election, Debs wins most votes ever for Socialist leader

33. Prejudice in America • The Red Scare began in America around 1919-1920, and many labor strikes were viewed as Russian anarchy • Communists were arrested by General A. Mitchell Palmer, saw red too easily • Two men arrested for murder, are electrocuted due to their race, religion, and history as draft dodgers. Expressed prejudice in court systems • A new KKK spawned, against Catholicism, blacks, and Communism, and Judaism. They committed many violent acts against these groups of people, which influenced Americans greatly

34. Immigration Restrictions • Immigrants coming from war-torn countries, close to 400,000 a year • The Emergency Quota Act of 1921, which halted immigration from Europe • Replaced by the Immigration Act of 1924, which made quotas country by country to freeze the current racial composition of America • Completely cut off Japanese, and exempted Canada and most of Latin America

35. Prohibition • Last motion of progressive movement, passed in 1919 under the 18th Amendment • Didn’t actually ban possession of alcohol, just purchasing or selling of alcohol • Actually increased alcoholism, liquor bootlegging • Not a complete failure as it discouraged absenteeism and increased bank savings • Caused lots of crime/gangs • Al Capone, a murderous liquor dealer, ran a huge gang in Chicago and later Brooklyn • Gangsters moved to prostitution, gambling, and narcotics • Prohibition ended in 1933

36. Evolution Issues • Teachers are getting yelled at for teaching evolution around the country • Famous case called Scopes Trial, where teacher named John T. Scopes is indicted in Tennessee for teaching evolution • Fights between theology and biology prove to go nowhere, but Fundamentalists look foolish for the absurd trial

37. Cars • As prosperity roared in the 20s, people bought more and more cars until it became a necessity to own one • The car, once a luxury reserved for the wealthy, was now owned by everyone • Henry Ford’s Model T was put introduced in 1908, but was too expensive for an average citizen • By 1920, most workers were able to own one, and in 1929, 26 million cars were registered in the US

38. Airplanes • Cars brought along a big push for gasoline, and gasoline allowed for more advanced transportation technologies • While the first airplane was flown in 1903, five years before the Model T was released, the technology was able to take off in the 20s when oil became very commonplace • Charles A. Lindbergh flew his plane, The Spirit of St. Louis, across the Atlantic, from NY to Paris • By the 1930s and 40s, travel on air became common for many Americans, and safe enough as well

39. Radio • Even faster than airplanes were radio waves. Radio waves first were used for communication in 1890, but weren’t used avidly until WW1 when radio was necessary for long-range communication • Radio knitted the nation together through captivating shows and important news broadcasts

40. Movies • Hollywood first came into existence in 1903, when the first movie, The Great Train Robbery, was released • In 1915, a movie which glorified the KKK of the Reconstruction days was released, known as, The Birth of a Nation. • These two movies, two of the first major story movies, are classic movies

41. Lifestyle Changes • A major lifestyle change was shown through women • A sexual freedom came about • Women cut their hair, wore one-piece bathing suits and dresses • Dr. Sigmund Freud argued that sexual repression caused emotional ills,and that this sexual freedom was doing a good for society • Racial pride emerges • Marcus Garvey found UNIA to promote blacks to resettle their African homelands

42. Foreshadowing the Depression • Even during the boom of the 20s, banks were failing daily • Speculation ran wild • Debt skyrockets under Wilson from 1.2 million in 1914 to 24 million in 1921 • Burdensome wartime taxes still an issue on many

43. President Harding • Harding, like Ulysses S. Grant, couldn’t tell when people were being dishonest • His gang of friends that he appointed, called the Ohio Gang, was very corrupt • Harding, as a friend of theirs, didn’t want to disappoint them • Harding was a good guy, but a bad president • Harding appointed 4 of the 9 Supreme Court Justices • Most of them were bad choices except for ex-president Taft who helped keep the rest in line • The Supreme Court killed landmark labor laws, child-labor laws, and stripped women of their special protection in the workplace • Corporations had the power to expand under Harding’s lax rules and ignoring of anti-trust laws

44. Foreign Issues • Disarmament Conference of 1921-1922: Invitations to all the Naval Powers, except Bolshevik Russia who the US refused to officially recognize as a government • Secretary Hughes proposed that England/America/Japan scale down their navies at a 5:5:3 ratio respectively. • The Five-Power Naval Treaty of 1922 embodied Hughes’ ideas on ship ratios • Pact between Japan, France, Britain, and the US made to preserve the status quo of the pacific. Known as the Four-Power Treaty

45. Tariffs • In 1922, Congress passed the comprehensive Fordney-McCumber Tariff boosted the average tariff rate from 27% to 39% • Harding was much more friendly to tariff increases than reductions, authorizing 32 upward changes on various commodities • The high tariff resulted in high European tariffs lowering global trade • The whole circle of raising tariffs to compete internationally helped Hitler get to power

46. Scandals • The loose morality of the Harding Era manifested itself quickly through many scandals • In 1923, Colonel Charles R. Forbes, was caught stealing money from the government, close to $200 million stolen by him and accomplices • Teapot Dome Scandal, involved the president receiving a bribe to help transfer invaluable oil to the wrong hands for money • The president dies to pneumonia and thrombosis before the scandals could catch up to him

47. Calvin Coolidge • Takes over upon Harding’s death • Extremely shy, gave boring speeches • Slowly gave the Harding regime a badly needed moral fumigation • His honesty helped get rid of the dishonesty of Harding and the scandals of his time

48. Election of 1924 • Calvin Coolidge nominated by the Republicans • La Follette for the Progressive Party • John W. Davis for the Democrats • Coolidge and the Republicans easily win the election, with 250 electoral votes over Davis

49. Foreign Policy Under Coolidge • Senate wanted to remain isolationist, in contrast to Coolidge who wanted to purse naval disarmament further • Ended up not getting much done • Sent military expedition to Mexico when Mexico began to take its own oil resources back • Coolidge defused the crisis skillfully • Many countries in debt to us from WW1, America focused on getting it back • Germany, in huge amounts of debt, allowed its currency to inflate drastically • Dawes Plan of 1924, rescheduled German reparation payments and opened the way for American loans to Germany

50. Election of 1928 • Coolidge bows out, Herbert Hoover succeeds him for the Republicans • Governor of New York Alfred E. Smith nominated for the Democrats • Hoover wins in a landslide, and Congress also remains Republican