The United States in WW I

1. The United States in WW I From Neutrality to War

2. The Causes of the War Nationalism- each European country believed they were superior to the others; overzealous patriotism Militarism (Arms Race)- European countries glorified armed strength and war-massive and competitive arms race Military Alliances- Europeans bound together by a series of military treaties Imperialism (Rivalry over Colonies)- Europeans competing for colonies in Africa and Asia as a source of raw materials

3. 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 TO PROTECT BELGIUM’S NEUTRALITY

5. The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austro-Hungary The archduke and his wife Sofia assassinatedby a Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip Occurred in Sarajevo, Bosnia- resented Austria’s control June 28, 1914

6. 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.

7. The Assassination (Continued) The Response (Tensions already high) 1. Austria and Germany declared war on Serbia 2. Russia, an ally of Serbia, moved troops to Serbia 3. Germany declared war on Russia and its ally France 4. Britain declared war on Germany

8. 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

9. HOW DID MOST AMERICANS FEEL ABOUT JOINING THE WAR IN EUROPE? • MOST PEOPLE WANTED TO REMAIN NEUTRALBECAUSE: • THEY FELT THAT IT WAS NOTOUR FIGHT • EUROPEWAS TOO FAR AWAY • WAR WAS EXPENSIVE • DIVIDED LOYALTIES SINCE WE TRADED WITH BOTH GERMANY AND GREAT BRITAIN (AND FRANCE) AND DID NOT WANT TO SEVER TIES WITH EITHER ONE BY FIGHTING AGAINST THEM • Ethnic Division

10. 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

11. Fighting the War-The Bloody Stalemate 1914-1917 WW I (1914-1918) also called the Great War Europeans thought war would be over in a few months Germany fought a multi-front war: 1. The Western Front- against Britain and France 2. The Eastern Front- against the Russians

12. The Western Front Eastern France Front’s position fluctuated little from 1914-1917 Characterized by Trench Warfare Bloody- massive amount of deaths

14. The Horrors of Trench Warfare • System of trenches dug along a 160-mile line in eastern France • Soldiers fought from and lived in the trenches • Bloody, muddy and unsanitary • Consisted of long artillery bombardments followed by infantry charges • Havens of disease, dead bodies, rats, flies and trench foot

15. Trench Warfare

16. MOST OF THE TIME IN THE TRENCHES WAS SPENT WAITING FOR THE FIGHTING TO BEGIN SLEEPING TOOK PLACE IN SHIFTS SO SOMEONE WAS ALWAYS WATCHING THE ENEMY

17. “OVER THE TOP”

18. New Weapons of the 20th Century Warfare-WW I The Machine Gun Modern Cannon Chemical warfare- mustard and chlorine gas FlameThrower Tanks- could break over the trenches and barbed wire Airplanes- The Red Baron- famous German pilot-downed many Allied planes U-boat Warfare- “unterseeboots” (submarines)

19. AIRPLANES ENTERED THE SCENE

20. The Machine Gun

21. TECHNOLOGY IMPROVED CANNONS-BIG BERTHA

22. TANKS WERE FIRST INTRODUCED

23. The Flamethrower

24. SUBMARINES, CALLED “U-BOATS” BY THE GERMANS, WERE USED TO SINK SUPPLY SHIPS

25. German U-boat

26. POISONOUS GAS

27. The Machine Gunners w/ gas masks

28. Even the horses wore gas masks

29. ANIMALS AT WAR

30. Deadly Battles • Verdun (680,000killed in 6 Months) • Somne (1 million killed in 6months) • Argonne Forest (decisive, but costly victory for the allies)

31. VERDUN WAS A MAJOR BATTLEGROUND

32. 3 Events that drew America into the Conflict The sinking of the luxury liner Lusitania by a German u-boat German U-boats violate International Law- continued to sink American merchant vessels 3. The Zimmerman Telegram- “the icing on the cake”

33. 1. The Sinking of the Lusitania May 7, 1915- sunk in 18 minutes Torpedoed off the Irish coast 1,200dead out of 2000, including 128Americans and 125 children Contained a secret cargo –4200 cases of guns for the British and French Outraged America….Germany apologized and pledged not to sink any more civilian vessels-Sussex Pledge of 1916

34. The Sinking of the Lusitania <>

35. ALTHOUGH THIS EVENT ANGERED MANY AMERICANS, THE U.S. DID NOT JOIN THE WAR FOR 2 MORE YEARS

36. 2. Unrestricted Submarine Warfare 1916-17 GERMANY ANNOUNCED THEY WOULD RESUME THEIR U-BOAT CAMPAIGN AND SINKALL (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.

37. 3. The Zimmerman Telegram The “icing on the cake” (January 1917) Sent to the German ambassador in Mexico from Arthur von Zimmerman Called for Mexico to invade the US to keep the US from sending troops to Europe Promised to Mexico Texas, Arizona and New Mexico “Intercepted” by the British On April 6, 1917, President Wilson convinced Congress to declare war on Germany

38. ZIMMERMANN Telegram(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

39. POLITICAL CARTOON ON THE ZIMMERMAN NOTE

40. US President Woodrow Wilson Asks Congress to declare war on Germany

41. American Opposition to the War Quakers, Mennonites and Amish (pacifists) Socialists like Eugene Debs-argued that America was in the war to help out big business Women’s Peace Party People who opposed the war were branded as “traitors” and “wrongdoers” Thousands of anti-war persons were imprisoned under the Espionage Act (1917) and the Sedition Act (1918) for “inciting treason or Insurrection” against the government and US Military

42. America Mobilizes Selective Service Act: Draft was instituted- 9.5 million men drafted, 5 million men enlistedon their own Industrial production increased for weapons and other war supplies Agricultural production increased to help feed troops Women, African Americans and Mexicans went to work in the factories to help w/ the labor shortage War Labor Board-Women paid equal to men

43. DRAFTED MEN REPORTED FOR SERVICE IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

44. WAR PROPAGANDA POSTERS

46. American Soldiers in the War Soldiers arrived in June1917 2 million by end of the war-Nov. 1918 American soldiers called the “Doughboys” Braveand tough, but not well trained at first Boosted the morale of the Allied forces in Europe Helped the allied navyand airforces

47. AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS SERVED IN SEGREGATED UNITS HENRY JOHNSON, LEFT, AND NEADHAM ROBERTS, RIGHT RECEIVED THE FRENCH CROIX DE GUERRE, AN AWARD CREATED TO RECOGNIZE BRAVERY IN THE FACE OF AN ENEMY

48. ALTHOUGH AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS WERE USED MOSTLY FOR LABOR, THE FRENCH HIRED SOME INFANTRY THAT FOUGHT ALONGSIDE FRENCH WHITE SOLDIERS. THESE EXPERIENCES CONTRIBUTED TO THE SENSE OF EMPOWERMENT EXPRESSED BY THE BLACK COMMUNITY IN THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE IN THE 1920s. CUTTING DOWN TREES BUILDING RAILROADS IN FRANCE

49. American Commander General John “Blackjack” Pershing American commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) “When you hit, hit hard and don’t stop hitting” Intensified troop training Led the Allies to decisive victories

50. Expansion of the Federal Government