LECTURE #17: WORLD WAR I AND THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE

(1914-1921)

Derrick J. Johnson, MPA, JDAdvanced Placement United States

History,School for Advanced Studies

Outbreak of War

The assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Bosnian nationalists on June 28, 1914, set off the series of events that would lead to World War I (WWI). Tensions between European powers had been building, with almost all of the major powers undergoing rapid military build up in the years prior to 1914.

Tensions were heightened to the following factors: Increasing nationalism The complicated system of alliances Competition of imperialism.

Outbreak of War The war between the Allied Powers (France, Russia

and Great Britain) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire) began in August of 1914.

Many Americans felt deeply connected to the events of WWI, as over one third of Americans was a first or second generation immigrant. However, not every American supported the Allied Powers.

A large number of German-Americans supported the Central Powers.

Wilson personally supported the Allied Powers especially when he got word of alleged acts of barbarism.

On August 4, 1914, President Wilson issued an official proclamation of American neutrality in the war. Even though most Americans were sympathetic to cause of the Allied Powers, economic common sense dictated that America stated neutral.

The U.S. continued to trade with both sides, during the war. However, after several seizures of American ships by both sides, the U.S. issued several diplomatic protests.

The Sinking of the Lusitania

It was the actions of German U-boats that angered many Americans and caused them to favor entering the war against the “Huns.” According to international law, if any one ship were to sink another, it first had to board the ship and offer all on board “safe passage” before sinking it. The advantage a U-boat had was that it glided underwater undetected and fired at other ships without warning.

On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat sank a British passenger ship, the Lusitania. All passengers on board perished, including 128 American passengers.

The Sinking of the Lusitania

Many in the American public were outraged. President Wilson issued a strong protest, but it should be noted that the ships were carrying weapons meant to help the Allied cause which technically made it legal for the Germans to sink the ship.

In addition, the Germans placed advertisements in major American newspapers warning Americans not to travel on the ship that day.

After the sinking of the Lusitania, a small but vocal minority of influential Republicans from the East – including Theodore Roosevelt – argued for entry into the war against Germany. The majority of Americans were thankful for peace and a good economy.

The Sinking of the Lusitania

In August of 1915, the Germans sunk another passenger ship, the Arabic. Wilson once again issued a forceful protest. The Germans issued the “Arabic pledge,” in which they promised to stop sinking ships without warning as long as the crews of the ships allowed the Germans to search the ships.

On March 24, 1916, the Germans sunk another passenger ship, the Sussex, a French ship. Seven Americans were badly injured.

The end result of the U-boat attacks were that the American public opinion turned sharply against the Germans.

By 1916, American trade with the Allies increase as the war progressed, while trading with the Central Powers was near to zero

The Election of 1916

President Wilson, well aware that the Democrats only won the 1912 Presidential Election because of the split between the conservative and progressive Republicans, had to approach the 1916 Election very carefully.

Despite his own progressive record, Wilson’s chances for re-election diminished when Theodore Roosevelt declined the Progressive Party’s nomination and rejoined the Republican Party.

Despite the reunification of the Republican Party, the Republicans failed to find a candidate that could successfully defeat Wilson. TR had declined to run in the 1916 election, so the Republicans persuaded U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Charles Evans Hughes to resign from the Court and run as the Republican nominee for President.

The Election of 1916

The Democrats re-nominated Wilson, who adopted an effective campaign slogan, “He kept us out of war,” which proved appealing to the public. Hughes proved to be a very poor candidate, but he benefited from the strength of the Republican machine in the East.

Despite Wilson’s popularity and effective campaigning, the election was still close. Wilson defeated Hughes with 277 electoral votes (9,126,868 popular votes) to Hughes’ 254 electoral votes (8,548,728 popular votes).

America Enters the War On January 31, 1917, Germany announced a policy of

unrestricted submarine warfare, stating that any ship from any country attempting to enter the Allied nations ports would be sunk.

On February 3, 1917, Wilson broke off diplomatic relations with Germany and he suggested to Congress that American ships be armed.

American opinion became increasingly enraged when they heard about the Zimmerman Telegram. This was a intercepted message between Arthur Zimmerman, the German foreign minister, and German officials in Mexico.

The message stated that should Germany and the United States go to war, then they should try to persuade the Mexicans to attack the U.S. and they would receive Texas, Arizona and New Mexico after the Americans were defeated.

Between March 16th and 18th, 1917, three more American ships were sunk by German vessels.

On April 3, 1917, Congress invoked its Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 war powers for the fourth time in its history, at the request of President Wilson.

America Enters the War Wilson believed that by the U.S.’s entry in the war, the

conflict would be shorten and American shipping interests would be protected.

By the time the U.S. entered the war, the British and French were desperate for American assistance. The Russians suffered crushing defeats since 1916 and the removal of the czar from power in 1917 threw in doubt the entire Russian commitment to the war.

With Russia out of the war, the Germans could throw the bulk of their resources to the western front.

The initial American Expeditionary Force that landed in France was about 14,500 soldiers under the commanded of General John Pershing.

The initial forces were volunteers, however, the Selective Service Act was passed in May of 1917, which drafted soldiers into the service.

Both women and African Americans served in the war. Some 11,500 women served as nurses and clerical staff. As for blacks, 400,000 of them served as soldiers in segregated units.

To decrease the threat of the German U-boats, the U.S. developed a convoy system to stabilize the supply line to Europe.

The Impact of American Forces in WW I

Lenin and the Bolsheviks took over Russia in November of 1917 and they took Russia out of the war.

By March 1918, the Germans had concentrated almost all of their troops on the western front, and they were less than 50 miles away from Paris by early June. The American troops, in the Battle of Chateau-Thierry, prevented the Germans from crossing the Marne towards Paris.

The U.S. forces also defeated the Germans at the Battle of St. Mihiel. In the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, in late September of 1918, the U.S. successfully cut the supply lines of the German army and convinced the German general staff that victory was impossible.

The armistice ending the combative part of the war was signed on November 11, 1918.

Nearly 115,000 Americans died in this war in comparison to the nearly 8 million European soldiers who died in the battles.

The Treaty of Versailles The Paris Peace Conference began on January 12,

1919, and had the very difficult task of creating lasting European peace. The conference was dominated by the “Big Four” (Britain, France, Italy and the U.S.).

France and Britain was in ruins after the war, and they sought to punish the Germans as much as possible for the war.

Wilson, on the other hand, came to France supporting his Fourteen Points, which called for: Open peace treaties Freedom of the seas. Free trade Reduction of colonial claims Arms reduction And the creation of the League of Nations.

The Treaty of Versailles Both France and Britain were cool on Wilson’s14

points and only passed a fraction of it. The main part, the League of Nations, was formed by the powers.

Wilson had not appointed a Republican member of the Senate to the Paris Peace Conference, which proved to be a mistake.

Wilson returned from France needing the Senate’s approval of the Treaty of Versailles. The Republicans, led by Henry Cabot Lodge, rejected his proposal for U.S. involvement in the League of Nations.

To win national support for the treaty, Wilson began a national speaking campaign tour on September 3, 1919. On October 2, 1919, Wilson suffered a stroke and never totally recovered.

Wilson tried to garner enough support, but ultimately, he failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote for the treaty to pass.

The Election of 1920

Outgoing President Wilson had become increasingly unpopular, and following his severe stroke in 1919 could no longer speak on his own behalf.

The economy was in a recession, the public was weary of war and reform, the Irish Catholic and German communities were outraged at his policies, and his sponsorship of the League of Nations produced an isolationist reaction.

The armistice ending the war was two years in the past by the time the 1920 Presidential Election occurred. The Democrats nominated Ohio Governor James Cox, who urged the adoption of the League of Nations. The Republicans nominated Ohio Senator Warren Harding, whose only memorable phrase was that he wanted the American people to “return to normalcy.”

The Election of 1920

Harding was apparently right because he won in a landslide. Harding defeated Cox with 404 electoral votes (16,144,093 popular votes) to Cox’s 127 electoral votes (9,139,661 popular votes).

Epilogue of World War I In 1921, the U.S. formally ended the war with Germany,

but the U.S. never entered the League of Nations. The failure of the United States to join the League of

Nations greatly affected European affairs. The League of Nations was never the organization that it

could have been with American involvement. There was an expectation that the U.S. would be a major player on the world stage after the war.

However, lead by the Senate, the United States backed off from the commitment, and entered a period of isolationism that would last through the 1930s. It would take another great war before the U.S. would assume a larger role on the world stage.

THE END OF LECTURE #17