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Warm Up
• Create a timeline of the major battles of WWI, 1914-1918
• Note the results of the battles
Neutrality
• As war raged in Europe, the U.S. remained neutral
• Reflected American tradition of isolationism - Washington’s Farewell Address
Leaning Toward the Allies
• President Wilson favored the Allied Cause - Sympathetic toward neutral Belgium- Historic and commercial ties to Great Britain
and France• British fleet blockaded Germany, preventing
American commerce• By 1917, U.S. businesses sold $75 million per
week of war goods to British
German Submarine Warfare
• Germany suffered under blockade• began to attack ships headed to Great Britain
using submarines, or U-Boats• Declared waters around Great Britain a war
zone in 1915• Unrestricted Submarine Warfare- all ships in
British waters, including those from neutral nations, were subject to attack
Sinking of the Lusitania
• British passenger ship carrying 1,900 passengers
- Secretly carried war supplies • Torpedoed by German U-Boat on 5/1/1915• 1,200 people died, including 128 Americans- Outraged Americans• Germany agreed to only attack supply ships
Sinking of the Sussex
• French passenger ship Sussex torpedoed on 3/24/1916
- Killing 80• President Wilson threatened to end diplomatic
relations with Germany• Germany feared U.S. might enter war,• Issued Sussex Pledge, • promised not to sink merchant vessels “without
warning and saving human lives”
U.S. Entry into War
March 1917• Revolution in Russia overthrew the Czar &
established a more democratic government.• Many Americans believed the U.S. should
support democracy and became more supportive of the Allies
U.S. Entry into War
March 1917• Germans sank three American merchant ships • Americans outraged at violation of Neutrality
Entry into War
Zimmerman Telegram • Germans made overtures to Mexico• Attack the U.S. in exchange for former
Mexican territory in the U.S.• British intercepted telegram it was later
published in U.S. newspapers, outraging Americas
U.S. Entry into War
• President Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany
• “Make the world safe for democracy”• April 6,1917, Congress declared War• U.S. entered the war on the side of the Allies
Raising an Army
• Selective Service Act - men between ages 21-30 had to register to be drafted into the armed forces.
• Conscientious Objectors - people whose moral or religious beliefs prevented them from fighting
Raising an Army
• Pre-war the U.S. army was small• The army was unprepared for the massive
influx of soldiers• Soldiers slept in tents until barracks could be
built• Recruits spent days learning basics of military- Rules, marching, preparing for inspections• Military was short on rifles so recruits
practiced with wooden sticks
Raising an Army
• African American soldiers were segregated into separate divisions and camps
• Southern whites feared training African American soldiers to use weapons
• Few were trained for combat roles
Arriving in Europe
• American soldiers who went overseas formed the American Expeditionary forces (AEF)
• Led by General John J. Pershing• First arrived in France in June of 1917
Arriving in Europe
• Americans used the convoy system to safely transport troops and supplies to Europe
• Troop-transport ships were surrounded by cruisers and destroyers for protection from German U-Boats
Arriving in Europe
• When American forces arrived in France, the Allies situation was bleak
• German forces occupied all of Belgium and parts of northeastern France
• Russia was facing famine and civil war• Allies wanted and needed American forces to
start fighting on arrival
Arriving in Europe
• Pershing had other plans• Wanted his soldiers to fight as American units,
not as replacement soldiers in British and French units
• Also wanted to give troops additional training
Allied Setbacks
Nov. 1917• Russia undergoes another revolution• Communist government takes over• New government, led by V.I. Lenin withdraws
Russia from the war• Germany now free to focus on the Western
Front
Allied Setbacks
March 1918• Germany launched a
series of offensives against the Allies on the Western Front
• Big Berthas - 6,000 artillery pieces firing 2,100 pound shells 75 miles
• Germans pushed to within 70 miles of Paris
U.S. Troops in Action
• American troops finally saw combat a year after arriving in France
Trench warfare• Soldiers dug trenches to protect themselves
from enemy fire• Trenches were separated by no man’s land,
covered in bared wire
Trench Warfare
Life in the trenches• Soldiers stood deep in mud as rats ran over
their feet• Enemy planes dropped bombs• Artillery shells exploded nearby• Mustard gas attacks
U.S. Troops in Action
• American troops proved to be a major factor in the war
• Helped stop the German advance, saved ParisTurning Point• Second Battle of the Marne• Germans launched a massive offensive• Forced to retreat after suffering 150,000
casualties
U.S. Troops in Action
• Allied troops began to advance• Began to retake portions of Belgium,
northeastern FranceBattle of the Argonne Forest• Americans suffered 120,000 causalities (dead
& wounded)
The Armistice
• Lacking the will to keep fighting, the Central Powers began surrendering one by one
• 11/11/1918 Armistice with Germany went into effect
• Germany surrendered its aircraft, submarines, tanks, heavy artillery and some of its territories
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