Notes: World War I

Militarism and Alliances

• Plan to unify Germany• Prussia forces France to give up territory along

German Border after Franco Prussian War• France and Germany enemies• Germany forms Alliance with Italy and Austria-

Hungary =Triple Alliance

Militarism and Alliances

• New Alliance alarmed Russia, she allied with France against the Triple Alliance

• Led to militarism: strong buildup of armed forces to intimidate other nations

• Britain allied with France, but unofficially with Russia= Triple Entente

Imperialism and Nationalism

• Intense pride in one’s country (Nationalism) powerful idea in Europe

• Nationalism promoted empire building to spread culture and interest

• In 1700 and 1800’s European powers built empires through annexation, conquest, or economic domination = Imperialism

• Some conquered groups in the Balkan Peninsula were ruled by the Ottoman Empire and Austria Hungarian Empire

• These groups pressed for Independence• Serbs were first to fain independence and

were supported by Russia, wanted to unite Slavic people of Balkan Peninsula

• June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to Austria Hungarian Empire visits Bosnian Region

• He and his wife Sophia were assassinated by a Serbian Nationalist- Gavrilo Princip

• Austria Hungary gave Serbia an ultimatum to allow officials in to investigate, Serbia refused knowing they had Russian support

• The alliance system kicked in when Austria Hungary declared war on Serbia

• Russia mobilized on German border, Germany declared war on Russia and France-WWI began

• Britain, France, Russia =Allies, eventually Italy joins alliance

• Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire= Central Powers

• 2 fronts: Western Front on French border, Eastern Front on Russian Border

US Declares War

• US neutral at first• British tried to gain US support through

propaganda• America became pro Allies and lent them over

2 billion dollars, gave Germany 27 Million• US financially invested in the war with the

Allies

Moving towards war

• British blockaded German Ports• Germans respond with submarine warfare,

even on civilian ships• Germans warn passengers not to take civilian

ships of allies, Lusitania sunk-thought to be carrying ammo to Britain, 128 Americans killed

Zimmerman Note

• Germany sent Zimmerman Note to German Ambassador to Mexico promising lost land in TX, NM, AZ if Mexico allied with Germany

• British intelligence intercepted telegram and the US declared it an act of aggression. US declares war on Germany on April 2, 1917

The Homefront

• War Industries Board: told manufacturers what they could produce, allocated raw materials, set prices on goods

• Food Administration/Herbert Hoover: increased food production and reduced civilian consumption, encouraged Americans to grow own food in “victory gardens”

• Fuel Administration: managed coal, oil, created daylight savings time, shortened workweeks, encouraged heatless Mondays

• Banks: sold bonds to finance war

Mobilizing Workforce

• National War Labor Board: prevented strikes• NWLB helped improve wages, enforced 8 hr

workday, allowed collective bargaining if it did not disrupt wartime production

• Men at war, so more women and minorities in workforce

Shaping Public Opinion

• Committee on Public Info (CPI): formed to sell war to American Public through pamphlets, speeches, posters, ads

• Laws passed to fight espionage or spying: Espionage Act of 1917 and Sedition Act of 1918

• German Americans were targeted and attacked

Building the military

• Selective Service Act of 1917 required all men 21-30 to register for draft

• 2 million men volunteered, minorities joined but were segregated

• 50,000 died in combat, 200,000 wounded, 60,000 died of disease mostly from deadly flu of 1918-1919

Women join the military

• Served in non combat positions• In Navy, wore standard uniforms and assigned

rank of Yeoman• In Army, did not enlist but hired as temporary

employees

A Bloody Conflict

• Trench warfare: from English Channel to Swiss border, used network of ditches, barbed wire, and machine guns to guard against enemy.

• Americans arrive: winning war at sea depended on the convoy system -safety in numbers

• Russia leaves war: Czar Nicholas II overthrown and Communists gain control under Vladimir Lenin, signed the Brest-Litovsk treaty with Germany giving up Ukraine, Polish territories, and Finland

Americans enter combat

• American Expeditionary Forces under John J Pershing (AEF) used as replacements at first

• AEF retrained and fought as one unit• US launched 1st major attack against Germans at

Cantigny and blocked last German offensive at Chateau Thierry

• Battle of Argonne Forest: Allied forces launch massive counter attack, drove back German forces at Battle of Saint Mihiel, Germans fell to Allies by Nov. 1918

The War Ends

• Oct 1918: Poland, ,Czechoslovakia declare independence/ Austrian Hungary and Ottoman Empire surrender in Nov. 1918

• War officially ends Nov. 11, 1918• Treaty of Versailles: leaders from Britain

(David Lloyd George), US (Woodrow Wilson), France (George Clemenceau), and Italy (Vittorio Orlando) met to draw up peace treaty, Russian Gov’t not recognized

14 Points

• Wilson’s Peace Plan to guarantee free trade, freedom of the seas, disarmament of aggressive nations, national self determination, creation of League of Nations and World Court to preserve peace

• Germany blamed for war and had to pay reparations to Allies ($33 billion)

• US senate rejects treaty because of League of Nations, did not want to give up right to declare war

Impact of War

• Economic turmoil, strikes due to inflation as economy turns from wartime to peace time production

• Women and minorities lost jobs to returning soldiers, racial unrest, loss of jobs, racism, riots across country 1919, African Americans organized and fought back legally

Red Scare

• Concern about immigrants importing Communist and Socialist ideas from eastern Europe and Russia

• Palmer Raids: due to bomb threats and other violence, the US attorney General Palmer took action by creating the General Intelligence Division later known as the FBI

• Ordered a series of raids to find evidence to connect foreign born to communism and then deport them

• Election of 1920: Won by Warren Harding (R) , Americans sought for a return to NORMALCY