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U.S. Involvement in World War I

U.S. Involvement in World War I. “The Great War” 1914-1918. I. The Roots of War. A. Tensions grew between European powers in the 1800s and 1900s because of … 1. Nationalism – deep devotion to one’s country

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U.S. Involvement in World War I

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  1. U.S. Involvement in World War I “The Great War” 1914-1918

  2. I. The Roots of War A. Tensions grew between European powers in the 1800s and 1900s because of … 1. Nationalism – deep devotion to one’s country a. rivalry between Germany, Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, Russia, Italy and France b. led to a desire for independence among various ethnic groups.

  3. I. The Roots of War – continued 2. Imperialism – competition for colonies in Africa and Asia led to rivalry and distrust among the European powers 3. Militarism – “the policy of glorifying military power and keeping an army prepared for war” = an arms race between the European powers

  4. RIVALRIES OVER COLONIES LED TO BITTERNESS IN EUROPE

  5. ARMS RACE • EACH COUNTRY IN EUROPE HAD A DESIRE TO BETTER ITS ARMY AND NAVY. • GREAT BRITAIN TRADITIONALLY HAD THE MOST POWERFUL NAVY IN EUROPE. GERMANY BEGAN TO EXPAND HER NAVY, WHICH CREATED TENSION BETWEEN THE TWO NATIONS. • FRANCE LOST THE ALSACE-LORRAINE REGION TO GERMANY IN THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR OF 1870. THIS LEFT BITTERNESS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES AND A DETERMINATION BY FRANCE TO HAVE HER ARMY READY TO TAKE BACK THE TERRITORY FROM GERMANY.

  6. I. The Roots of War - cont. 4. Entangled Alliances - Triple Alliance = Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy (Germany’s ruler, Kaiser Wilhelm II, said he wanted to show how mighty Germany had become) - Triple Entente = Britain, France, and Russia

  7. INTRICATE AND SOMETIMES SECRET ALLIANCES IN EUROPE LED TO OBLIGATIONS BUT ALSO DIVIDED LOYALTIES IF ATTACKED AUSTRIA-HUNGARY HAD AN AGREEMENT WITH GERMANY WHO HAD AN AGREEMENT WITH ITALY. OTTOMAN EMPIRE WAS ALLIED WITH GERMANY AGAINST RUSSIA. SERBIA HAD AN AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA WHO HAD AN AGREEMENT WITH FRANCE WHO HAD AN AGREEMENT WITH GREAT BRITAIN WHO HAD AN AGREEMENT PROTECT BELGIUM’S NEUTRALITY

  8. Kaiser Wilhelm II

  9. I. The Roots of War –cont. B. Crisis in the Balkans 1. Ethnic rivalries dominated this region known as the “Powder Keg of Europe” 2. Europe’s leading powers along with Russia all had interests here! 3. New nations were formed: - Serbia – created by Slavs (most Russians were Slavic) - Bosnia – taken over by Austria- Hungary (area where many Slavs lived)

  10. II. WWI Begins A. Assassination of the Archduke 1. June 28, 1914 – the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofia were assassinated in Sarajevo (capital of Bosnia) by a Serbian terrorist

  11. ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND AND FAMILY THE HEIR TO THE AUSTR0-HUNGARIAN THRONE WAS ASSASSINATED WHILE TOURING THROUGH SERBIA BY GAVRILO PRINCIP, A MEMBER OF AN ORGANIZATION CALLED BLACK HAND, WHO WANTED INDEPENDENCE FOR THE REGION FROM AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. THIS ASSASSINATION HELPED LEAD TO THE WAR AS COUNTRIES RUSHED TO AVENGE THE MURDER AND FULFILL THEIR ALLIANCE OBLIGATIONS.

  12. II. WWI Begins - continued B. Austria declares war 1. July 28, 1914 – Austria declares war on Serbia (believing this would be a short war) - Germany supports Austria’s decision - Russia mobilizes to support Serbia * Alliances agree to support each other *

  13. II. WWI Begins -continued C. Chain Reaction 1. Germany feels “obligated” to support Austria-Hungary and declares war on Russia on August 1, 1914 2. August 3, 1914 Germany declares war on Russia’s ally, France 3. Germany now fighting a Two Front War

  14. III. The Fighting Starts A. The Schlieffen Plan - Germany’s plan to attack France first and then Russia 1. Germany moves through Belgium (a neutral country) to get to France 2. Britain is outraged at the violation of neutrality and declares war on Germany on August 4, 1914 3. Italy breaks their alliance with Germany by mid-August because of this violation.

  15. III. Fighting Starts – cont. B. Trench Warfare: - (After both sides failed to outflank each other’s armies, both sides dug in for a long siege.) - By the Spring of 1915, two parallel systems of deep, rat infested trenches crossed France. - trenches were very close together and the space in between, “no man’s land”, was filled with bombs and barbed wire

  16. . During the First Battle of the Somme – which began July 1, 1916 and lasted until mid-November 1916 – the British suffered 60,000 casualties the first dayalone. Final casualties totaled about 1.2 million, yet only 7 miles of ground changed hands. This bloody trench warfare continued for over 3 years.

  17. TRENCH WARFARE Trench warfare was the dominant style of fighting. Troops would dig 10-12 ft. deep trenches for protection against enemy machine gun fire. The space between two trenches was called “no man’s land.” To break an enemy’s line artillery would bomb the area, then the men would run across no man’s land until they could throw grenades into the enemy’s trench. **Reading “A Wet Little Home”.

  18. TRENCH WARFARE

  19. AERIAL VIEW OF THE TRENCHES

  20. III. Fighting Starts - continued C. European Nations Take Sides 1. Central Powers = Germany, Austria- Hungary 2. Allied Powers = Britain, France, and Russia – later Japan and Italy join 3. Millions of soldiers march off to war convinced that the war would be short

  21. ALLIES FRANCE UNITED KINGDOM (AND ALL OF HER COLONIES) ITALY RUSSIA JAPAN ROMANIA SERBIA GREECE PORTUGAL THE WAR BEGAN WITH THE ALLIES VERSUS THE CENTRAL POWERS AND SIX NEUTRAL NATIONS NEUTRAL NATIONS SPAIN SWITZERLAND NORWAY SWEDEN BELGIUM DENMARK CENTRAL POWERS AUSTRIA-HUNGARY GERMANY BULGARIA TURKEY

  22. IV. Americans Question Neutrality A. The United States remains neutral: 1. August 19,1914 – President Wilson declares U.S. neutrality 2. Most Americans saw no reason to join a struggle 3,000 miles away that did not threaten U.S. lives or property. 3. Other Americans wanted to join the war because of loyalty to their homelands and to past allies.

  23. President Woodrow Wilson

  24. “Every man who really loves America will act and speak in the true spirit of neutrality, which is the spirit of impartiality and fairness and friendliness to all concerned….It is natural and inevitable that there should be the utmost variety of sympathy and desire among you with regard to the issues and circumstances of the conflict. The United States must be impartial in thought as well as in action.” President Woodrow Wilson

  25. IV. Americans Question Neutrality B. Divided Loyalties - Socialists criticized the war as a capitalist and imperialist struggle between Germany and England for markets - Pacifists, believed war was evil and that the U.S. should set an example of peace. - Many simply didn’t want their sons to experience war.

  26. B. Divided Loyalties – continued - Many Americans felt close to Britain because of common ancestry, language and democratic systems. - Germany’s aggression increased U.S. sympathy for the allies. - America’s economic ties with the allies was stronger (during the first 2 years of the war, the U.S. shipped millions of dollars of war supplies to the Allies and orders kept coming!!!!)

  27. TOTAL U.S. POPULATION 1910: 91,972,266 U.S. POPULATION BY ETHNIC GROUP FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE WAR: 32,243,282 POPULATION BY ETHNIC GROUP IN MILLIONS

  28. WHAT EXPLAINS THE ANTI-GERMAN SENTIMENT IN THE U.S. GIVEN THAT GERMANS COMPRISED THE SINGLE LARGEST FOREIGN-BORN GROUP? • CLASHING WITH THE GERMANS IN SAMOA AND AT MANILA BAY OVER EXPANSION OF U.S. TERRITORIES IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY • COMPETITION OVER TRADING IN CHINA, EAST INDIES, THE PACIFIC, AND AFRICA • GERMAN DOMINANCE OF NAVAL AND ARMY POWER OVER THE U.S. • GERMANY INVADED NEUTRAL BELGIUM • BRITISH PROPAGANDA DEMONIZING THE GERMANS

  29. V. The War Hits Home A. The British Blockade - Britain blockaded the German coast to stop supplies, including food. - Result = U.S. angry b/c the blockade threatened freedom of the seas and Germany experienced famine (750,000 Germans died of starvation by 1917)

  30. V. The War Hits Home – cont. B. German U-Boat Response - Germany responded with a counterblockade by U-boats = any allied ships in the waters around Britain would be sunk.

  31. AD PLACED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BY THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT, 1915 NOTICE! Travelers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or any of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that travellers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk. IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 22, 1915.

  32. LUSITANIA SUNK, 1915 BRITISH PASSENGER SHIP SUNK BY A GERMAN U-BOAT IN 1915. MORE THAN 1,000 PEOPLE KILLED INCLUDING 128 AMERICANS.

  33. V. War Hits Home – cont. C. Sinking of the Lusitania - May 7, 1915 – a U-boat sank the British liner the Lusitania off the coast of Ireland. - 1,198 people died, 128 were Americans (Germany defended their actions on the grounds that the liner carried ammunition but Americans were still outraged)

  34. The Lusitania

  35. V. War Hits Home – cont. C. Sinking of the Lusitania – cont. - August 1915 – a U-boat sinks another liner, killing 2 Americans - Americans protest and Germany agrees not to sink any more passenger ships. - March 1916 – U-boat torpedoed an unarmed French passenger ship, killing 80 people, including some Americans. - Wilson still avoided war and was re-elected in 1916 using the slogan “He Kept Us Out of War”!

  36. THE ELECTION OF 1916 REPUBLICAN SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CHARLES EVANS HUGHES DEMOCRAT PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON WILSON RAN ON THE SLOGAN “HE KEPT US OUT OF WAR!” HOWEVER HE KNEW THAT THE U.S. WAS GETTING CLOSER TO ENTERING THE WAR HUGHES CHALLENGED WILSON’S UNWILLINGNESS TO STAND UP TO THE GERMANS

  37. THE ELECTION WAS SO CLOSE THAT THE RESULT WAS NOT KNOWN FOR SEVERAL DAYS WHILE CALIFORNIA’S VOTES WERE TALLIED. WILSON’S LEAD IN CALIFORNIA WAS ONLY BY 3800 VOTES. WILSON WON WITH 9,129,606 TO HUGHES’ 8,538,221.

  38. VI. The U.S. Declares War A. January 1917 Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare – promising to sink all ships in British waters- hostile or neutral. - U.S. now knows war in unavoidable but Wilson decides to wait for “actual overt acts” before declaring war.

  39. VI. U.S. Declares War – cont. B. The Zimmerman Telegram – Feb. 1917 1. Telegram sent from the German foreign minister, Arthur von Zimmerman to the German ambassador in Mexico 2. Intercepted by British intelligence 3. Telegram proposed: - that Mexico ally itself with Germany - if war broke out w/ the U.S., Germany would help Mexico recover “lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.”

  40. ZIMMERMANN NOTE (1917) On the first of February we intend to begin submarine warfare unrestricted. In spite of this, it is our intention to endeavor to keep neutral the United States of America. If this attempt is not successful, we propose an alliance on the following basis with Mexico: That we shall make war together and together make peace. We shall give general financial support, and it is understood that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona. The details are left to you for settlement. . . . You are instructed to inform the President of Mexico of the above in the greatest confidence as soon as it is certain that there will be an outbreak of war with the United States and suggest that the President of Mexico, on his own initiative, should communicate with Japan suggesting adherence at once to this plan; at the same time, offer to mediate between Germany and Japan. Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico that the employment of ruthless submarine warfare now promises to compel England to make peace in a few months. Alfred Zimmermann, German Foreign Minister 1916

  41. FEBRUARY 1, 1917 GERMANY ANNOUNCED THEY WOULD RESUME THEIR U-BOAT CAMPAIGN AND SINK ALL (INCLUDING AMERICAN) SHIPS IN THE WAR ZONE. MANY GERMANS WERE STARVING FROM THE BRITISH BLOCKADE AND THE GERMAN MILITARY BELIEVED THEY COULD FORCE THE BRITISH TO SURRENDER IN A FEW MONTHS, BEFORE THE U.S. WOULD ENTER, AND WIN THE WAR. WILSON CLUNG TO THE HOPE THAT GERMANY WOULD NOT ACTUALLY ATTACK U.S. SHIPS, HOWEVER IN MARCH FOUR UNARMED MERCHANT SHIPS WERE SUNK, WITH 36 LIVES LOST.

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