The Nation at War 1901–1920

1. 24 The Nation at War1901–1920

2. A Fateful Torpedo With the sinking of the Lusitania, the American people learned firsthand of the horrors of total war. President Wilson’s decision to protest the incident through diplomacy kept the United States out of the war—but only temporarily.

3. The Nation at War1901–1920 • A New World Power • Foreign Policy Under Wilson • Toward War • Over There • Over Here • The Treaty of Versailles • Conclusion: Postwar Disillusionment

4. The Sinking of the Lusitania • Germans sink British luxury liner • Americans sifted through British, German claims and hoped for peace • Wilson hated war but diplomacy failed • April 1917, U.S. enters World War I

5. A New World Power • American foreign policy aggressive, nationalistic since late 19th century • Colonialism drew U.S. into international affairs

6. Building the Panama Canal • 1903: Colombian senate refused to allow U.S. to build Panama Canal • Roosevelt abetted revolution to separate Panama from Colombia • Independent Panama permitted construction

7. Building the Panama Canal (cont’d) • HayBunau–Varilla Treaty with Panama granted U.S. control of canal zone; 1914: canal opened • “Roosevelt Corollary”: U.S. would ensure stability of Latin American finance • Roosevelt Corollary spurred intervention in, Cuba, Panama, Dominican Republic

8. Map 24.1 The Panama Canal Zone Construction of the canal began in 1904, and despite landslides, steamy weather, and yellow fever, work was completed in 1914.

9. Ventures in the Far East • 1905: Roosevelt mediated the Russo-Japanese War • Taft-Katsura Agreement • Korea under Japanese influence • Japan to respect U.S. control of Philippines • 1907: “Gentleman's Agreement” Japan promises to stop immigration

10. Ventures in the Far East (cont’d) • 1908: Root-Takahira Agreement • Maintain status quo in Far East • Accept Open Door and Chinese independence • 1915: Japan seized German colonies in China and claimed authority over China

11. Taft and Dollar Diplomacy • Taft substituted economic force for military • American bankers replaced Europeans in Caribbean • Taft's support for U.S. economic influence in Manchuria alienated China, Japan, Russia

12. Foreign Policy Under Wilson • Wilson inexperienced in diplomacy • Tried to base foreign policy on moral force

13. Troubles Across the Border • 1913: Huerta led coup in Mexico • Wilson denied Huerta recognition • Revolutionary regimes must reflect “a just government based upon law” • Wilson blocked arms shipments to Mexico • 1914: U.S. seized Vera Cruz • 1916: U.S. Army pursued “Pancho” Villa across U.S., Mexican border

14. Map 24.2 Activities of the United States in the Caribbean, 1898–1930 During the first three decades of the twentieth century, the United States policed the Caribbean, claiming the right to take action when it judged Latin American countries were doing a bad job of running their affairs. During the first three

15. Toward War • 1914: War in Europe • Central Powers headed by Germany • Allied Powers headed by England, France • Wilson sympathized with England, sought U.S. neutrality

16. The Neutrality Policy • Progressives saw war as wasteful, irrational • Suspicion that business sought war for profit • Immigrants prefered U.S. neutrality • A long tradition of U.S. neutrality • Americans saw little national stake in war

17. Freedom of the Seas • England blockade of Germany • U.S. ships to Germany seized • Wilson accepted English promise of reimbursement at war's end

18. Freedom of the Seas (cont’d) • Germans used U-boats to interrupt trade with Allies • U.S. trade with Allies boomed, but was increasingly financed by loans from American banks • Allies owed U.S. banks $2 billion by 1917

19. The U-Boat Threat • German submarines violated international law by shooting without warning • Bryan advised Wilson to ban travel, Wilson refused • 1915: Lusitania sunk by U-Boat • Wilson demanded Germans protect passenger ships and pay for losses • Bryan resigned, replaced by Robert Lansing, who favored Allies

20. The U-Boat A new and terrifying weapon of the war was the German U-boat, which attacked silently and without warning.

21. The U-Boat Threat (cont’d) • April, 1916: Wilson issued ultimatum: call off attacks on cargo and passenger ships or U.S.-German relations would be severed • May, 1916: Sussex Pledge—Germany pledges to honor U.S. neutrality

22. The Election of 1916 • 1916: Wilson campaigned on record of neutrality • Republican Charles Evans Hughes campaigned on tougher line against Germany • Wilson won close election • Won large labor, progressive vote • Won majority of women's vote

23. The Final Months of Peace • Feb., 1917: Germany renewed U-Boat attacks • Zimmerman Telegram • Wilson's response • Ordered U.S. merchant vessels armed • Ordered U.S. Navy to fire on German U-Boats • April 6, 1917: War declared on Germany

24. Over There • U.S. allies were in danger of losing war • Germans sunk 881,000 tons of Allied shipping during April, 1917 • Mutinies in French army • British drive in Flanders stalled • Bolsheviks signed separate peace with Germany; German troops to West • Italian army routed • Allies braced for spring, 1918 offensive

25. Map 24.4 European Alliances and Battlefronts, 1914–1917 Allied forces suffered early defeats on the eastern front (Tannenberg) and in the Dardanelles (Gallipoli). In 1917, the Allies were routed in the Alps (Caporetto); the western front then became the critical theater of the war.

26. Mobilization • No U.S. contingency plans for war • 200,000 troops at war's beginning • Selective Service Act created draft • Conscripted 2.8 million by war's end • African Americans drafted as well

27. War in the Trenches • Teaming of U.S., English navies halved Allied losses to submarines • June, 1917: U.S. troops arrived in France

28. War in the Trenches (cont’d) • Spring, 1918: U.S. forces helped halt final German offensive • Battle of Chateau Thierry • Battle of Belleau Wood • September: Germans out of St. Mihiel

29. Map 24.5 The Western Front: U.S. Participation, 1918 The turning point of the war came in July, when the German advance was halted at the Marne. The “Yanks,” now a fighting force, were thrown into the breach. They helped stem the tide and mount the counteroffensives that ended the war.

30. Over Here • Victory depended on economic, emotional mobilization at home • Wilson moved quickly to organize war production • Recognized need to enlist American emotions

31. The Conquest of Convictions • Wartime laws to repress dissent • Espionage Act: Outlawed acts to aid the enemy, even encouraging disloyalty • Trading with the Enemy Act: Government can censor foreign language press • Sedition Act: Criticism of the war made a crime • 1500 dissenters imprisoned, including Eugene Debs

32. The Conquest of Convictions (cont’d) • Summer, 1918: Anticommunism prompts deployment of U.S. troops to Russia • 1918–1919: “Red Scare” resulted in domestic suppression of “radicals”

33. A Bureaucratic War • War Industries Board and other agencies supervised production, distribution to maximize war effort • Government seized some businesses to keep them running • Cooperation between government and business the norm • Business profits from wartime industry

34. Labor in the War • War Labor Board standardizes wages, hours, offered women equal pay • Corporations recruited Southern blacks • Growing competition for housings, jobs increased racial tensions and blacks fought back

35. Women at Work Housewives did not leave home for the factory en masse in 1917 as they did during World War II, but many women already employed outside the home found new, well-paying opportunities in jobs previously held by men.

36. Labor in the War (cont’d) • Labor shortage prompts entry of Mexican Americans to war-related work force • U.S. emerged from war strongest economic power in the world

37. Heroes of the War The 369th infantry regiment returning from the war on the Stockholm in February 1919. France awarded them its highest medal for valor, the Croix de Guerre, for bravery in the Meuse-Argonne.

38. The Treaty of Versailles • Common concern about Bolshevik revolution • Wilson's 14 Points call for non-punitive settlement • England and France balk at 14 Points • Want Germany disarmed and crippled • Want Germany's colonies • Skeptical of principle of self-determination

39. TABLE 24.1 Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, 1918: Success and Failure in Implementation Sources: Data from G. M. Gathorne-Hardy, The Fourteen Points and the Treaty of Versailles (Oxford Pamphlets on World Affairs, no. 6, 1939), pp. 8–34 ; Thomas G. Paterson et al., American Foreign Policy: A History Since 1900, 2nd ed., vol. 2, pp. 282–293 .

40. A Peace at Paris • Wilson failed to deflect Allied punishment of Germany in treaty • Treaty created Wilson's League of Nations • Article X of League charter required members to protect each others' territorial integrity • League's jurisdiction excluded member nations' domestic affairs

41. Map 24.7 Europe after the Treaty of Versailles, 1919 The treaty changed the map of Europe, creating new and reconstituted nations. (Note the boundary changes from the map on p. 618.)

42. Rejection in the Senate • William Borah (R-ID) led “irreconcibles” who opposed treaty on any ground • Senator Henry Cabot Lodge (R-MA) led “strong reservationists” demanded major changes; “Article X” • Wilson takes case to the people; October, 1919: Stroke disables Wilson • November: Treaty fails in Senate

43. Rejection in the Senate (cont’d) • Wilson hopes democratic victory in 1920 election would provide mandate for League of Nations • Harding wins election • January, 1920: Final defeat of Treaty • July, 1921: U.S. peace declared by joint Congressional resolution

44. Conclusion: Postwar Disillusionment • To the next generation the war seemed futile, wasteful • The progressive spirit survived but without enthusiasm or broad based support • Americans welcomed Harding's return to “normalcy”

45. Timeline

46. Timeline (continued)