HIS 112 Chapter 24

1. HIS 112Chapter 24 World War I

2. Foreign Policy of Theodore Roosevelt • Took over the building of the Panama Canal from French; canal opened in 1914 • Believed U.S. : • Should strengthen its world role • Protect its interests in Latin America • Preserve the balance of power in Asia

3. Foreign Policy of William Howard Taft • Became president in 1909 • Focused on advancing American business interests abroad • Wanted “open door” policy where trade was concerned – no restrictions; also called “dollar diplomacy” • Tried and failed to advance our commercial interests in China

4. Woodrow Wilson • Became president in 1913 • Did not like the expansionist policies of either Teddy Roosevelt or Wm. Howard Taft • Once said it would be pure irony if his administration had to deal chiefly with foreign affairs • Was devoted to domestic affairs with no deliberate foreign policy

5. Wilson, the World, and Mexico • Moralist • Pacifist • Believed wars should be fought only in self-defense • His Secretary of State, Wm. Jennings Bryan negotiated treaties with 30 countries stating that in the event of dispute, they would talk out the problem for a year before declaring war

6. Believed in the superiority of the white race but was not aggressive about it; he was patronizing but firm • Did not like dealing with non-white nations like Japan and mixed race nations of Latin America • Did not object to a California law that forbade Japanese from owning land • Sent troops into Haiti and Dominican Republic

7. Mexico • Interfered in Mexican affairs because of American investments • Americans owned $2 billion in Mexican property: most of the railroads, 60% of oil wells, & most of the mines at turn of century Decade of revolution 1910-1920

8. The Great War, The War to End All Wars, World War I • 28 June 1914 – assassination of Austria-Hungary’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophia, in Sarajevo, Bosnia by Gavrilo Princip of Black Hand • 23 July 1914 – ultimatum sent from Austria-Hungary to Serbia (unreasonable demands and a time-limit for retribution) • 28 July 1914 – Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia (only with German backing)

9. 30 July 1914 – Russia declared war on both Austria-Hungary and Germany • By 4 August 1914 • Germany declared war on Russia & France (walked through neutral Belgium) • France declared war on Germany • Britain declared war on Germany after it violated Belgian neutrality

10. 4 Main Causes of World War I • Militarism: build-up of new weapons coming out of Industrial Revolution • Nationalism: those of the same ethnic background should have their own nation-state • Imperialism: the taking over territory that is already occupied and organized • Alliances: joining in a loose friendship because of a common enemy

11. The war spread to 33 nations worldwide • 1914, Woodrow Wilson declared America neutral • U.S. had a history of not getting involved in entangling alliances, so we wouldn’t be dragged into some else’s war • Difficult for Americans to remain neutral in their hearts

12. The German Schlieffen Plan did not work • Germans had to split their forces • They had to split their supplies • No quick take-over of France • Belgians resisted heroically • Russians advanced more quickly than expected into German territory

13. New weapons used but not efficiently • Airplane: initially used to count enemy troops until they were fired upon; then guns were mounted on planes • Poisonous mustard gas: devastating; a shift in the wind could send fumes back on those who released gas • Machine gun: very effectively mowed down troops advancing in old infantry style

14. Ex.: Battle of the Somme in July of 1916, 60,000 British troops were slaughtered or wounded in the first half hour • At the end of the battle: • British losses – 400,000 • French losses – 200,000 • German losses – 500,000

15. Tanks: • Developed by the British • Armored vehicles that drove right through encampments • Not initially used efficiently • Sent infantry in first, then tanks • Realized they needed to send in tanks with infantry using them for cover

16. War at Sea • Directly touched American interests • Destroyed commerce • British set up a blockade of Germany • During war, all enemy merchant ships could be seized, attacked, and sunk • Old rules of war: • Warn passengers of attack • Then rescue them

17. New rules of war, especially with the use of the submarine: use the element of surprise and don’t rescue those on the enemy ship • Ships of neutral nations retained the right to trade with any nation as long as they weren’t carrying war materiel • Americans could not trade with Germans

18. Waters around Germany were mined • American ships were stopped and searched by British • Food was considered war materiel • Germans hurt the British economy by using their submarine called the U-boat or unterseeboot

19. Modern Submarine: • Invented by 2 Americans, John Holland and Simon Lake • U.S. Navy rejected their plans • They took them then to Europe and sold them to the highest bidder, Germany • Each sub was armed with 19 torpedoes • Made waters around Britain very dangerous • Struck without warning

20. Lusitania • Sunk off the coast of Ireland on 7 May 1915 • Was a n English luxury liner • 1,198 passengers of the 1,959 on board were killed including 128 Americans • Germans had taken out an Ad in a New York paper telling people not to get on that ship

21. The Lusitania did carry 4200 cases of small arms bought in the U.S. • When ship was hit, there was the initial explosion followed by a secondary explosion • This was proof for the Germans that they were right to sink the ship; a secondary explosion meant to them that there were explosives on board

22. Since 1915, it was discovered that the torpedo hit right next to room containing coal, and coal dust is highly explosive • That could account for th secondary explosion • Americans became anti-German after the sinking of the Lusitania • Wilson sent several messages to Germany

23. Germany agreed to stop attacking passenger vessels because they did not want the U.S. to enter the war on the side of the British

24. Western Front • Became a stalemate • Used trench warfare • Trenches were dug in a zig-zag pattern • Men lived in trenches with lice, rats, and dead bodies

25. America Goes to War • Wilson won the election of 1916 with the slogan, “He kept us out of war.” • Wilson, however had been preparing for it and knew the U.S. would have to enter • November, 1915 • Wilson enlarged the U.S. army to 400,000 men • He also expanded the navy

26. Wilson did try to mediate an end to the war soon after he was re-elected; it didn’t work • American factories had switched to making materiel for war • Women took men’s places in the factories when they joined the military