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“THE YANKS ARE COMING”THE UNITED STATES AND

WORLD WAR I

STANDARDS

• SSUSH15 The student will analyze the origins and impact of U.S. involvement in World War I.

a. Describe the movement from U.S. neutrality to engagement in World War I, with reference to unrestricted submarine warfare.

b. Explain the domestic impact of World War I, as reflected by the origins of the Great Migration, the Espionage Act, and socialist Eugene Debs.

c. Explain Wilson’s Fourteen Points and the proposed League of Nations.

• SSUSH16 The student will identify key developments in the aftermath of WW I.

a. Explain how rising communism and socialism in the United States led to the Red Scare and immigrant restriction.

WAR CLOUDS GATHER

The M.A.I.N. causes of World War I • Militarism – glorification of the

military; arms race• Alliances – Germany, Austria-

Hungary, the Ottoman Empire vs. France, Russia and Great Britain

• Imperialism – extending power and influence over other nations through political or military means

• Nationalism – extreme devotion to one’s nation usually with a feeling of superiority over others; concept sweeping through Europe

World War I would also become known as the “Great War” and the “War to End All Wars”

WAR CLOUDS GATHER

• June 1914 – Archduke

Francis Ferdinand of

Austria-Hungary killed

by Serbian nationalist,

Gavrilo Princip

• Austria-Hungary

declares war on Serbia

• Others within alliances

follow and war begins

Ferdinand Princip

NEW BATTLEFIELD TECHNOLOGY

• Trench warfare –

soldiers dig

trenches; new

form of warfare

• New weapons

prove

devastating:

• Machine gun

• Poison gas

• Submarines

• Tanks

• Airplanes

AMERICA RESPONDS TO THE GREAT WAR

• A number of responses came from Americans reacting to the violence in Europe.• 1. Tensions ran high as newspapers reported

devastating news on a daily basis.• 2. Americans (many of whom were

immigrants) tended to support their native countries.

• Threats of violence in American streets arose from those supporting either side and speaking out against the opposing side.

• Most Americans did not want to get involved in a war.• The impacts of the Civil War (50 years earlier

and 670,000 casualties) and the Spanish American War (16 years earlier and 3,500 casualties) were still felt around America

AMERICA RESPONDS TOTHE GREAT WAR

• Two groups dominate

American public opinion:

• 1. Isolationists – believe the US

should stay out of war

• 2. Interventionists – believe the US

should enter the war

• In August 1914, President

Woodrow Wilson (left) urged

Congress to officially declare

neutrality in the war.

• “The United States must be neutral

in fact…as well as in name…”

THE TIDE TURNS

• To feed its population and supply its industries with raw materials, Germany relied heavily on imported goods.

• Britain(with her superior navy) was able to carry out a successful blockade of many German ports.• Blockade – sealing off a place to keep

goods and supplies from entering

• To retaliate, Germany began using unrestricted submarine warfare.• German U-boats expanded

attacks not only against war-time vessels, but commercial and civilian ships as well.

THE TIDE TURNS

• In 1915, Germany increased its attacks on ships at sea to include neutral passenger ships.

• In May 1915, the British cruise liner Lusitania was sunk by the German U-boat U-20 off the coast of Ireland • This sinking killed 128 Americans

on board

• Despite the loss of American lives, President Wilson continued to push his policy of neutrality and keep the US out of the war

THE TIDE TURNS

• January 1917 – Germany sends a coded telegram (known as the ZIMMERMAN NOTE) proposing an alliance between Germany and Mexico• Germany promised Mexico

they would help reclaim the lands lost to US in the Mexican War of the 1840s

• American support for war against Germany swells.

• The United States declares war on Germany on April 6, 1917.

THE UNITED STATES ENTERS WORLD WAR I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHn1Egt6Xdg

THE U.S. GOES TO WAR

• The entrance of the United States on the side of the Allies in 1917 is welcomed by Britain and France• The US offers fresh supplies, new

manpower, and a new fighting spirit in the war

• Wilson promotes General John J. Pershing (right) to command of US forces in Europe• One of Pershing’s first stops in Paris after

arriving was at the grave of the Marquis de Lafayette where he remarked “Lafayette, we are here!”

• The US mobilizes 4,000,000 soldiers to support the war effort• Before entering the war the US military

had only 200,000 soldiers

• The first US troops arrive in France in the summer of 1917

• US troops are nicknamed “Doughboys” by other Allied troops in Europe due to the shape of the buttons on their coats which resembled biscuit dough Pershing at Lafayette’s Grave, Paris 1917

THE U.S. GOES TO WAR

• THE FRONT LINE• The United States enters

the war just as Russia is pulling out

• US involvement in the war dooms Germany’s hope at victory

• The American Expeditionary Force (AEF) become major players on the Western Front at battles such as:

• Chateau-Thierry

• Belleau Wood

• Meuse River

• Argonne Forest

ANTI-GERMAN PROPAGANDA

THE U.S. GOES TO WAR

• THE HOMEFRONT• In order to focus all attention

on the war effort, President Wilson took steps to assure that American citizens would not take actions that would interfere with American victory in Europe.

• In 1917, Congress passed the Espionage Act.

• The Espionage Act outlined the penalties for spying, sabotage and obstructing the war effort.

• The law also banned the use of the US Postal Service to send anti-war materials.

IMPACT OF WORLD WAR I IN THE U.S.

• Eugene Debs• Well-known socialist and union leader.

• One of the biggest voices and leaders during the Pullman Strike of 1894

• Socialism – system under which the means of production are publically or governmentally controlled rather than owned by individuals

• Debs was arrested after making a series of anti-war speeches urging Americans not to fight.• Debs was arrested, tried. and convicted under the

laws of the Espionage Act and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

• Debs and the Socialist Party showed that socialist ideas would become a major player in early 20th century politics. • The American people will never knowingly adopt

Socialism. But under the name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened." -Norman Thomas

IMPACT OF WORLD WAR I IN THE U.S.

• Seeking employment and to escape from racism, approximately 1.2 million African American moved to Northern industrial cities in the early 1900sduring what is known as the Great Migration• Migration – movement from one place to another

• Trend accelerated as defense manufacturing jobs became available during the war.

• Temporary suspension of immigration led to an increased demand for black laborers.

• Rise of African American populations in northern cities:

• Chicago – South Side • Detroit – Brightmoor• Cleveland – Central• St. Louis – Ferguson

WORLD WAR I ENDS

• At 11:00 AM on

November 11, 1918,

Germany surrenders

thereby bringing an

end to the fighting

in World War I

• Treaty of Versailles

officially ends war

one year later in

1919

THE GREAT WAR’S AFTERMATH

• The question remains on what will happen now that the war is over

• Britain and France want severe punishments on Germany

• Woodrow Wilson proposes his Fourteen Points Plan• Fourteen Point plan – list of terms resolving World War I; included

proposed League of Nations

• Wilson wanted a “Peace Without Victory” (no winner and no loser) among the nations• He also wanted the “Great War” to be the “war that ended all wars”

• Most of Wilson’s ideas were rejected by the Allies• Germany was forced to pay reparations (payments for damage) to

other countries

• Wilson also supported the creation of a League of Nations• A world organization that would increase and support cooperation

between countries

THE GREAT WAR’S AFTERMATH

• In the wake of World War I, Europe was left in ruin

• The Allies forcing of Germany to pay reparations caused an economic depression in Germany

• Many Germans were looking to blame someone for their defeat in WWI.• The National Socialist German

Workers’ Party (Nazi) used the Jewish population as a “scapegoat”• Scapegoat – blaming someone else for

your problems

• This party gained major popularity during the 1920s due to its dynamic promise to improve Germany (through its key speaker, Adolf Hitler)

• The aftermath of World War I in Europe would lead directly to the outbreak of World War II

• Hitler would become Chancellor of Germany in 1933

AMERICANS OPPOSE THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

• American opposition to US involvement in the League of Nations led the US Senate to refuse to ratify the Treaty of Versailles.

• Isolationists believed that by joining the League of Nations, the US would become involved in future conflicts all around the world.

• In the end, the US never joined the League of Nations.

COMMUNISM IS BORN

• In the 19th century, philosopher Karl Marx developed a new theory of politics and economics.

• Marx’s theory was known as communism.

• Marx believed that oppressed workers around the globe needed to work to overthrow the capitalist system.

• Under communism, the workers (not individuals or the government) would share the means of production and distribution.

• Idea appealed to many industrial workers but hid the fact that it would lead to a dictatorship

COMMUNISM IS BORN

• In 1917, communist revolutionaries (known as Bolsheviks) overthrew and murdered Czar Nicholas II in Russia and created a new, communist nation called the Soviet Union.• The Revolution forced

Nicholas to pull Russian troops out of the war

• The Bolshevik Revolution was led by communist leader Vladimir Lenin

• Many believed the goal of this new, powerful communist country was to destroy capitalism all over the world.

Lenin

Nicolas II

THE RED SCARE

• After World War I, labor unions began relentlessly to strike for higher wages

• Many suspected these strikes were organized and orchestrated by communists.

• The fear that the US would face a similar fate as Russia (now communist Soviet Union), led to a period in US history called the Red Scare (red is always the color associated with communism).

• These fears were further heightened by a series of bombings and attacks against public officials and buildings thought to be the work of communists.

THE RED SCARE

• The Red Scare led to a

series of new social and

legal restrictions on

immigration.

• A new wave of “nativism”

swept the country.

• The Ku Klux Klan

experienced a strong

revival throughout the

country in opposition to

immigrants, Jews,

Catholics, and communists.

THE QUOTA SYSTEM

• In 1924, Congress

reacted to the new wave

of anti-immigrant

sentiment by passing the

National Origins Acts.

• Part of this legislation

created the Quota System.

• The Quota System set limits

on the number of

immigrants who could

come from each country.

T.O.D. “WORLD WAR I, READ ALL ABOUT IT”

• Write a newspaper article, or draw a political cartoon, focusing on one of the following topics (2 paragraphs):

• Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand

• Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

• Sinking of the Lusitania

• Zimmermann Telegram

• Espionage Act

• Great Migration

• The Treaty of Versailles

• Wilson’s 14 Points

• League of Nations

• Bolshevik Revolution

• The Red Scare

• The Quota System

• Your article/cartoon should show your knowledge of your chosen subject