Chapter Ten: Expansionism and World War I

Becoming a World Power

• Imperialism: policy of establishing economic, political and military dominance over weaker nations on humanitarian and moral grounds.

• The United States had a long standing wish for non-intervention, but often intervened themselves

• Monroe Doctrine: in early 1800’s, US told Europe to stay out of the Western Hemisphere

Need for Imperialism?

• Senator Albert J. Beveridge (Indiana)– “Most future wars will be conflicts for

commerce.”

• Called openly for US to open new markets– American Farmers– Manufacturers

• Investors– Wanted foreign markets to invest in

Foes of Imperialism

• Not everyone liked the idea of forcing US control on others

• United States founded by breaking away from foreign control

• Nation Magazine, 1902: “We made war on Spain four years ago for doing the very thing of which we are now guilty ourselves.”

US in the Caribbean

• President Theodore Roosevelt– “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”

• “The Big Ditch” – The Panama Canal– Canal through Central America

(specifically Colombia) would allow ships to more easily sail from Atlantic to Pacific

• Hay-Herrán Treaty– US wanted to pay $10 million upfront

plus $250 thousand annually for land– Six mile wide canal zone that would save

sixty days travel time– Colombia wanted more money

Introducing: Panama

• United States decided not to negotiate with Colombia

• USS Nashville sailed to region to support local rebels; arrived on November 2, 1903

• November 4, 1903: Panama declares independence from Colombia; recognized by US (of course)

• Colombia, faced with local resistance plus US opposition, ended up with nothing

• Panama agreed to US terms (of course) and over the next decade the Panama Canal was built.

US Expansion

• US feared European intervention into South America, despite the Monroe Doctrine

• Dominican Republic owed European nations, including Germany, money– The Dominican Republic’s unstable government

fought over control of funds to pay Europe with

• President Teddy Roosevelt sent US troops in to control Dominican Republic and ensure European nations would stay out of the United States’ neighborhood

• Roosevelt Corollary: President declared that the US would be a “police force” for the Western Hemisphere, extending the Monroe Doctrine

Dollar Diplomacy• New President in 1909: William Howard Taft• Diplomacy: the art of conducting

international business• Agreed with idea of “carry a big stick,” but

Taft’s weapon was cash: he favored monetary control rather than military control

• Encouraged bankers to lend money to Central American countries and to invest in those countries’ businesses

• Interest on US loans made countries even more economically unstable, and even more dependent on US for aid: the US had unofficial control without ever threatening war

The United States in Asia

• US looked to China to open new markets for trade

• 400 million inhabitants attractive to both US businesses and to missionaries that wanted to convert “heathens” to Christianity– Built hospitals and schools

• New converts, it was believed, would certainly buy US products

An Open Door

• Secretary of State John Hay asked for an “open door” policy in China to ensure no country would dominate the market

• Russia, Japan, Britain and France also feared control by others, and temporarily agreed to the request

• America would have free access to China without having to fight another nation

• Chinese fate decided by other nations: an insult to the idea that they were free

Boxer Rebellion

• Boxers: members of a secret Chinese society that hated foreign influence in their country

• 1900: Rioted in Beijing (Chinese capitol)• Foreigners, diplomats, and Chinese

Christian converts were held for almost sixty days

• Freed by foreign army made up of Americans, Russians, Germans, French, British and Japanese

• China forced to pay $333 million and house foreign troops

The Philippines

• US freed Philippines from Spanish control during Spanish-American War (1898)

• Teller Amendment: addition to Cuban constitution granting country complete independence from United States at the end of the war

• With a catch: the US could intervene legally anytime if they felt they needed to

• Philippines expected the same treatment from the US

Philippines: Asian Port

• United States viewed control of the Philippines as important for success in Asian trade

• Natural resources (especially rubber) attractive to US, especially close to Asia

• President McKinley annexed islands– US “feared anarchy”– “Educate…uplift…civilize”

population

Filipino Resistance

• Guerilla war fought from 1902 to 1906– Guerilla war: fighting by small,

independent bands, using tactics such as sabotage and sudden ambush

• Led by Emilio Aguinaldo

• 120,000 American troops fought– 4,200 casualties

• Filipino losses:– 15,000 rebel soldiers– 200,000 civilians

Russo-Japanese War

• US wanted no dominant power in Asia: a country with strength could keep the United States out of Asian markets

• Japan: militarized quickly starting in 1870s, but lacked natural resources

• 1904: Japan attacks Russia to gain area on the mainland

• US supports Japan over Russia– Russia controlled more Asian land and was

the greater threat

Russo-Japanese War cont.

• President Teddy Roosevelt negotiated a peace between the two nations in 1905

• Japan gained:– Land in Korea– Ports in China– Railroads in Southern Manchuria

• Russia– Kept North Manchuria

• Japan forced to stay out of Philippines

Racial Politics• Asians discriminated against

in US– Japanese had embarrassed

Russians– San Francisco schools

segregated Japanese

• President Teddy Roosevelt built stronger Navy to support overseas market: the Great White Fleet– 16 battleships toured the world

as a show of the United States’ power

– Stopped in Japan in 1908

Entering the 1910s

• The United States were recognized for the first time as policemen of the world– Incursions into South America and Asia– Panamanian Independence (for the Canal

Zone)– Negotiations between Russia and Japan,

as well as between the major powers of Europe

• US economy for the first time was very dependent on nations around the world– Instability elsewhere could hurt the US

World War IEurope Explodes

President Wilson• Woodrow Wilson: former

university president elected US President in 1912

• Believed strongly in the idea of self-determination: the right of people to choose the form of government they live under and to control their internal affairs

• Wilson often went against his own beliefs, particularly in Mexico

Mexican Revolution

• Mexican ruler Porfirio Diaz fell in 1911 after thirty years of rule

• Under Diaz, Mexican economy was strong enough to attract foreign investors– 90% of mines, railroads and industry

controlled by Americans, British and Germans

• Peasants and middle-class overthrew Diaz

Mexican Revolution cont.

• Replacement: Francisco Madero

• Foreign investors and US government feared that foreign-owned property would be taken by new Mexican government

• US wanted to help Victoriano Huerto perform a coup

• Coup: the act of seizing power and overthrowing the government

• Huerto did it himself

US in Mexico

• Wilson decides to recognize Huerto and stay out of Mexico…then changes his mind

• April 1914: several US sailors arrested in port of Tampico

• Mexico apologized– US demanded a 21-gun salute to the

American flag– Mexico wanted the same to theirs

• US uses incident to send in Marines

US in Mexico cont.

• US Marines occupy Veracruz for six months– Anti-American riots broke out– European press spoke out against US

• Wilson, surprised at criticism, pulls out• 1915: new Mexican leader Venustiano

Carranza• Wilson backs new President, causing rebel

leader Pancho Villa to kill 18 US miners in Mexico and 17 Americans in New Mexico

• 15,000 US troops went into Mexico, looking for Villa until 1917

Entangling Alliances

• Alliance: a pact or association of nations joined in a common cause

Triple Entente:Great Britain

FranceRussia

Central Powers:Germany

Austria-HungaryOttoman Empire

Aligned nations promised to defend each other in case of war

Assassination

June 28, 1914: Austrian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo by Serbian nationalist

• Serbian government played no part, and actually attempted to arrest the assassin before he could kill the heir to the Austrian throne

Assassination: Aftermath

• Late July: Austria-Hungary demands to enter Serbia to apprehend killers, expecting Serbia to deny them access, leading to the war Austria wanted.– Gives ultimatum: final demand implying a

threat of serious penalties if not met

• Surprisingly, Serbia allows most of the Austrian demands…

• Austria-Hungary decides to attack anyway

Alliances

• Austria wants to attack Serbia…• Russia obligated to defend Serbia…

• Germany obligated to defend Austria…

• France obligated to defend Russia…

• Britain obligated to defend…Belgium?!

The alliance system forced nations into a small, local war they had nothing to do with

War Plans

• Germany, lying between France and Russia, faces a war on two fronts

• Russian Army: huge, hard to mobilize– Mobilization: preparation for war, including

military and civilian efforts

• Germany plans to attack (and defeat) France before Russians can reach Germany

• The plan: go through Belgium

War Begins

• Germany’s “Schlieffen Plan” wanted to surround French troops, bypassing line of soldiers on French/German border by going north --- through Belgium– Line along border heavily guarded by French forts

and troops

• Belgium allied with Great Britain for defense back in 1839. Germany thought Britain would ignore old alliance… they didn’t

• When German troops entered neutral Belgium, Great Britain declared war on Germany– Neutral: not taking sides in a dispute

War Timeline

• June 28: Ferdinand Assassinated• July 28: Austria declares war on Serbia• July 29: Austria invades Serbia• August 1: Germany declares war on Russia• August 3: Germany declares war on France• August 4: Germany invades neutral Belgium• August 4: Britain declares war on Germany• August 4: USA wants nothing to do with the

whole affair

Great War• Small war between Serbia and Austria had

escalated to all of Europe: called the “Great War.”

• Many believed this would be the war to end all wars. Early belief: war would be over by Christmas 1914 (about five months)

• Eastern Front (Germany/Austria vs Russia): Central Powers had little trouble entering economically troubled Russia, demoralizing Russians and calling into question the leadership of the czar (Russian word for “king”.)

• By 1917, Russian Czar overthrown by revolution– First democracy, then Communism– Communists pull Russia out of war

Early War: East

Early War: West

• Western Front (Germany vs France/Britain): trench warfare gave neither side an advantage. Troops dug in and faced machine gun fire that mowed down advancing lines. Little ground was gained by either side.

Early War cont.

• After five months of fighting…– 315,000 French had died– 280,000 Germans had died– British lost 60,000 in one day

• Battle of the Somme

• One million total dead by the end of 1914

Life on the Front• Trench warfare, with old war

strategies meeting newly invented equipment, resulted in a virtual standstill– Advancing soldiers met with

machine gun fire– Cold, damp trenches filled with

mud, rats, and lice --- lots of disease

– No Man’s Land: stretch of land between opposing trenches, filled with barbed wire and the bodies of gunned-down troops

Life on the Front: WeaponsInventions used for the first time in WWI:

• Machine guns– Just one soldier could man the nest

• Flamethrowers

• Barbed wire

• Airplanes

• Submarines

• Poison gas– Gas mask

Life on the Front: Gas

• Poison gas used widely for the first time in World War I, first by Germany, then by Britain and France as well

• Types– Chlorine gas killed almost immediately, suffocating

the soldier– Mustard gas took longer to produce symptoms,

but was more easily distributed and thus more deadly

• Delivery– Cylinders fired would release giant clouds of gas– Gas also included on regular artillery shells

Life on the Front: Gas cont.• Protection: gas masks were the only

line of defense against enemy gas attacks

• Misfires: wind direction and speed often changed or was initially misjudged, causing attacks to backfire• Germany’s first gas attack on

Russian troops was first blown back onto the German soldiers, then changed course AGAIN, landing on the Russians

• Britain’s first gas strike killed more of their troops than Germany’s

Battle of Verdun• Began in late

February 1916, and lasted until late December

• Fort at Verdun: more a psychological target than a tactical one, meant to hurt French morale and kill as many troops as possible

Battle of Verdun cont.

• By December losses were too huge and Germany stopped the attack

• Over a half-million fatalities between the two sides

• Germany attacked and gained ground, only to lose it back to France

United StatesStruggle for Neutrality

Myth of Neutrality• US President Woodrow Wilson desired to stay out

of the war• Immigrants often supported the country they

came to the US from, but didn’t want to enter the war– Emigrate: leave one country to live and work in

another

• US businesses traded with both sides, primarily with France and Britain, and tried to convince Americans to side with the Allies

• Britain provided all war news, resulting in coverage biased towards the Allies– Slanted toward one side or against something

Submarine Warfare

• Germany developed the submarine to fight British blockade of Germany, sinking both enemy ships and merchant ships carrying trade goods between countries

The Lusitania• May 7, 1915: German submarines attacked

the Lusitania, a British passenger ship. More than 1000 passengers died, including 128 Americans.

Closer to War

• Despite US protests to Germany, President Wilson vows to keep the United States out of the war

– Re-elected in 1916

– Slogan: “He kept us out of war!”

• Wilson actually wanted an Allied victory

– $2.25 billion loaned to Allies

– Post-war settlement could prevent future wars

Zimmerman Telegram

• In January 1917, Great Britain turned over an intercepted telegram: Arthur Zimmerman, a German official, sent Mexico a message asking that nation to invade the US from the south in exchange for land that Mexico had lost in the 1840s (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona.)

More Submarine Attacks

• At the end of January 1917, Germany announced it would not cease unannounced submarine attacks

• British blockade was starving the German people

• More US ships were sank between February and April

• March 15: Russian Czar falls, all Allied powers are now democracies

• April 2, 1917: President Wilson asks for, and receives, declaration of war against Germany