Chapter 11

1. Chapter 11 The First World War

2. Section 1 World War I Begins

3. Nationalism • A devotion to the interests and culture of one’s nation (We are better than everyone and only we matter) • This will lead to competition and rivalry • Increases resentment from ethnic groups that are dominated by others and want their own country • Many ethnic groups look to larger nations for protection like the Slavs looking to Russia (Serbs in Serbia AND Austria-Hungary)

4. Imperialism • Been practiced by European countries for a very long time as the extended their political and economic control over others • The ruling countries use the raw materials of a colony to create goods to then sell back to the colonies so the fatherland makes money • Germany industrializes and now competes with England and France for colonies

5. Militarism • Empires are expensive to build and defend so nationalism and imperialism lead to increased military spending which can be seen as a threat • Competitors for empires develop armed forces and use them as a tool of diplomacy • Germany’s army grows, then they decide to expand their navy to compete with Great Britain. France, Italy, Japan and the U.S. then join the competition

6. Alliance System • Pledge of “I’ve got your back” before there is a fight • Triple Entente: France, Britain and Russia • Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire • Is okay for awhile as people are afraid to disturb the balance of power, but once a conflict arises it means EVERYONE’S involved.

7. Assassination • Balkan Peninsula (powder-keg of Europe) is fought over by stronger countries all for different reasons • June 28, 1914 Archduke Fran-Ferdinand (heir to Austrian throne) visited Bosnia capital of Sarajevo, GavriloPrincip (a Serbian nationalist) shot him and his wife • One month later Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. Could have been a quick war with a decisive winner, but wasn’t because of the Alliance System

8. Alliances Complicate the War • Because of a treaty Germany is obligated to back-up Austria-Hungary so they declare war on Russia (which supports Serbs) on August 1, then on France on August 3 (because France and Russia are allies) • Germany then invades Belgium so Great Britain declares war on Germany and Austria-Hungary

9. The Fighting Starts • August 3, 1914 Germany invades Belgium with the Schlieffen Plan • Hold against Russia, then quick drive through Belgium to Paris then combine and defeat Russia • Allies deserted Belgium but stopped the advance at the Marne River in France • Neither side could outflank the other so they both dug trenches instead • Two lines of trenches cross France, rat-infested, cold, disgusting, fighting for yards of land each day and mowed down by machine gun fire

10. Trench Warfare

11. Divided Loyalties • Socialists: it is an imperialist & capitalist struggle to control foreign markets, do not get involved • Pacifists: war is evil & the U.S. should be an example • Naturalized citizens want their birth country to win • Most Americans feel the strongest ties to England, and don’t like the stories of “the bully of Europe” • Most importantly economic ties strongest with the Allies (they buy more of our stuff so support them)

12. British Blockade • Britain blockades German coast, includes food as contraband, extends the blockade to neutral ports and mines the entire North Sea • American stuff going to Germany gives up and goes home, Germany can’t import food or fertilizer, 750,000 Germans die from the resulting famine • Americans didn’t like the British blockade, but they liked Germany’s response even less

13. German U-boat Response • Counter blockade of U-boats, any Allied boat in the waters around Britain would be sunk • May 7, 1915 U-boat sunk the Lusitania (a British cruise ship), 128 Americans die(boat WAS also carrying ammunition) • Germany sank another cruise liner and 2 Americans before agreeing not to sink any more liners, broke promise and offered new promise IF America could convince Britain to end the blockade of food and fertilizer, otherwise Germany would resume unrestricted submarine warfare

14. 1916 Election • Wilson ran for reelection on the slogan “He kept us out of war” • His opponent went to bed believing he would be elected • When Wilson wins he tries to negotiate a peace without a winner

15. German Provocation • Resume unrestricted warfare, this means America cannot stay neutral, but they wait • Zimmerman Note, from Germany to Mexico pledging mutual defense and support • Sinking of 4 unarmed American ships • No more Russian Monarchy so we can pretend we are joining the “right” side

16. America Acts • April 2, 1917 Wilson asks Congress to declare war • They agree a few days later • Wilson’s purpose is to “make the world safe for democracy”

17. Section 2 American Power Tips the Balance

18. Raising an Army • Selective Service Act (draft) • 3 million called up, 2 million actually make it to Europe and ¾ see combat • Blacks serve in segregated army units, mostly non-combat duties, not allowed in navy or marines • Women not allowed to serve in army except as volunteer nurses, can serve in noncombat positions in navy and marines

19. Mass Production • Exempted shipyard workers from the draft, ran campaign emphasizing importance, gave flags to families, encouraged car owners to give them rides to work • Used fabrication techniques, parts built elsewhere and assembled in the shipyard (launched 95 in one day) • Government took over ships for private use and militarized them for war use

20. Convoy System • Destroyers escort merchant ships across the Atlantic • Cuts ship loss in half • 230 mile barrier of mines across the North Sea • Germans had a hard time replacing subs and submariners

21. Fighting in Europe • After 2 ½ years, exhausted and demoralized • Americans contribute numbers, freshness and enthusiasm • American Expeditionary Force led by General Pershing, nicknamed “doughboys” were from small towns and culture shocked by Paris and then war

22. New Weapons • Machine guns, tanks, airplanes… • Tanks: bullets bounce off, drive through barbed wire, clear a path for infantry, shoot down scouting planes • Airplanes: flimsy and first used solely for scouting, later used for dogfights, then mounted machine guns make them real weapons of war, then start carrying bombs and escorting observation balloons

23. New Hazards • Dysentery, poison gas, dead bodies, rats, lice, polluted water, lack of sleep, battle fatigue, “shell shock”, trench foot, trench mouth…

24. American Offensive • Russia withdraws, Germany can concentrate on France • Get within 50 miles of Paris • U.S. arrive, help stop the advance and push back the Germans all the way to the 2nd battle of the Marne

25. Alvin York • One of many war heroes • Was once a conscientious objector (Thou shalt not kill), joined the army because he felt the cause was just • In one day killed 25 Germans by himself and captured 132 prisoners with the help of 6 other doughboys • Made a sergeant, and an instant celebrity upon returning home

26. The Collapse of Germany • November 3, 1918 Austria-Hungary surrenders • German sailors mutiny against government, revolution spreads, Socialists take over, Kaiser gives up the throne • Germans were too exhausted to continue and agree to an armistice • 11th hour, 11th day, 11th month peace will reign in 1918

27. The Final Toll • Bloodiest war in history to date • 22 million dead, 20 million wounded, 10 millions refugees, $338 billion • U.S. lost 48,000 in battle 65,000 of disease, 200,000 wounded

28. Section 3 The War at Home

29. War Industries Board • Main regulatory body established in 1917 • Urges mass production, efficiency, eliminate waste, standardize parts • Set production quotas, allocate raw materials • Production increases by 20% • Inflation also increases since they only controlled wholesale prices, profits also skyrocketed • Railroad and Fuel Administration also existed to regulate wartime economy and conserve “gasless Sundays”, “lightless nights”, Daylight Savings Time

30. War Economy • Wages increased, but so did food and housing costs • Companies and stockholders made millions • Huge gap in pay, long hours, dangerous “sped up” conditions, child labor all forced unions to grow • 6,000 strikes broke out so Wilson organizes National War Labor Board • If workers refused board decisions they lost their draft exemption (“work or fight”) • Board improves conditions, hours, safety and child labor

31. Food Administration • Set up to conserve food, follow gospel of the clean plate • One meatless, one sweetless, two wheatless, two porkless • Victory gardens and 40 million extra acres into production help triple food exports to Allies

32. War Financing • $35.5 billion of war effort • 1/3 through taxes (progressive income tax, war-profits tax, higher tax on tobacco, liquor and luxury goods) • 2/3 through war bonds, thousands of volunteers sold them and even movie star encouraged those who weren’t “friends of Germany” to buy them

33. Propaganda • Biased communication designed to influence actions • Draft, rationing, war bonds, victory gardens, purpose, “How the War Came to America”… • Boy Scouts distribute the literature which encourages patriotism (and also racism)

34. Anti-Immigrant Hysteria • Mostly against German immigrants and descendants (beaten, tarred & feathered, lynched…) • Germans names lost jobs • No Mozart, Bach, Beethoven… No more teaching German in schools, no reading German authors • Liberty measles, Salisbury Steak or Liberty Sandwiches, Liberty cabbage, Liberty pups…

35. Espionage and Sedition Acts • Fined or imprisoned for interfering with the war effort or saying anything disloyal, profane or abusive against the government or the war • 2,000 prosecutions, ½ convictions • Newspapers and magazines lost mailing privileges • Senator refused seat, professor fired, labor leaders jailed and fined…

36. Blacks and the War • DuBois said blacks should support the war (have to be seen as human when fighting…) • Trotter said blacks should not support a racist government • Most backed the war

37. The Great Migration • Large scale movement of hundreds of thousands of Southern blacks to the cities in the North • Escape racial discrimination; boll weevil infestation, floods and droughts meant less crops; factory jobs open in the North as soldiers leave • Migration actually increases racial tension in the North

38. Women in the War • Start working “men-only” jobs because they are needed (railroad workers, cooks, dockworkers, bricklayers, shipbuilders, miners…) • Volunteered with Red Cross, bonds sales, victory gardens… • Some joined the Peace Movement • Gained support for suffrage, 19th amendment passed in 1919

39. The Flu Epidemic • 1918-1919 ¼ of U.S. population affected • Also affected economy (mines closed, telephone service cut in half, staggered working hours to avoid contagion, coffin shortage left poor dead unburied for a week… • Spread by soldiers, ½ million Americans die (30 million worldwide)

40. Section 4 Wilson Fights for Peace

41. Wilson’s Fourteen Points • First Five: No secret treaties, Freedom of the seas, Low tariffs for free trade, Arms reduced, Consider people when colonizing. • Next Eight: Base country boundary lines along “historically established lines of nationality”. • Point 14: *League of Nations*, an international organization to address diplomatic crises. That way countries could discuss and solve problems before jumping straight to war.

42. Big Four • Peace talks did not include Central Powers, now Communist Russia, and small Allied Nations. • Big Four: • France: Clemenceau, prevent German Invasions • Great Britain: Lloyd George, make Germany pay • Italy: Orlando, gain Austrian-held territory • United States: Wilson, Fourteen Points

43. Treaty Provisions • June 28, 1919. • Created 9 new nations and redrew boundaries. • Lets winners take over Ottoman Empire as colonies until they are ready for self-rule. • Germany not allowed to maintain an army. • Germany must return Alsace-Lorraine to France. • Germany must pay war reparations of $33 billion to the Allies.

44. Treaty Weaknesses • War-guilt clause: humiliate Germany by forcing them to accept full responsibility for starting the war. • War reparations: There is no way that Germany can pay back this huge debt. Their money-making colonies were taken away from them. • Russia: even though they were on the winning side for most of the war and suffered the most casualties they were not included in the peace talks and had more territory taken away than the loser: Germany.

45. Opposition to Treaty • Too harsh • Too imperialistic • New boundaries don’t allow sufficient self-rule • League of Nations threatens isolationism and infringes on Congress’s right to declare war.

46. Treaty Ratification? • Wilson speaks all over the country trying to get support for the treaty, but fails. It is voted on twice in the Senate and not ratified either time so U.S. eventually signs a separate treaty with Germany after Wilson is no longer president. • Also Congress refuses to allow Wilson to join the newly formed League of Nations because they do not want the League to shape our foreign policy.

47. Legacy of the War • Accelerated social change for African Americans and women • Leftover resentment for immigrants in U.S. • Leftover political instability and violence in Europe • Leftover desire for vengeance in Germany.