The United States and World War I

CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I

MANIA• Militarism- the build up of a nation's military• Alliances- formal agreements between nations

(defensive, economic, political)• Nationalism- extreme pride in one’s country,

desire for self-rule• Imperialism- A stronger nation takes over a

weaker territory for economic, political, or moral reasons

• Assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Ferdinand by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip in June of 1914

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, his family, and Gavrilo Princip

How did it get so involved?1. Austria Hungary wanted the

assassins and threatened to attack Serbia if they didn’t give them A-H asked Emperor William II of Germany for back up and declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914

2. Russia was determined to protect Serbia (protector of the Slavic peoples) and mobilizes army

3. Germany declares war of Russia b/c it mobilized

4. Germany devised Schlieffen Plan

5. Germany declares war on France August 3, 1914.

6. Germany issues ultimatum to Belgium to allow its military access.

7. Belgium is a neutral nation.

8. England declares war on Germany for violating Belgian neutrality.

The Schlieffen Plan

• Germany’s military plan to defeat France and Russia.

• “Knock out blow” aimed at France first.

• Avoid French defences by invasion of Belgium.

• Germans thought Britain would not intervene.

Britain’s Reaction• 1838- UK had signed a

Treaty to protect Belgium.

• Britain also scared of Germany controlling Channel ports.

• Did not want Germany to defeat France and dominate Europe. Britain next?

• UK issued ultimatum to Germany to withdraw troops from Belgium. War declared August 4 1914

US Neutrality

• 1914 there was no need for the US to join someone else’s fight 3000 miles away

• No threat to US property

• No threat to US lives

• No national concern

US Opposition to War• Naturalized citizens were against the war

in general because many had family back in Europe– Irish and Germans

• Socialists criticized war as imperialist struggle between England and Germany

• Pacifists (William Jennings Bryan) thought was just evil and the US should set example for peace

• Many Americans didn’t want to send kids to war

Two Alliance Systems

• Central Powers– Germany– Austria-Hungary– Ottoman Empire– Bulgaria– *** Italy

• Allies– Great Britain– France– Russia– US– ***Italy– Japan– etc

2 Front War

• Western Front• Germany thought it

could sweep around Paris and surround French army

• 1st Battle of the Marne• Trench warfare• Quickly became a

stalemate (4 years)

• Eastern Front• More mobile than WF• Many battles huge

losses (R 2.5m)• Italy switches sides• Bulgaria joins Axis

(Sept. 1915)

US Sympathy for the Allies

• Much sympathy for Great Britain and France– Common heritage– Common languages and literature– Similar democratic systems– Similar legal systems

• US turned off by stories of German aggression– Leveling towns– Killing innocents– Destroying cathedrals, libraries, hospitals

• US economy tied closed to Allies than Central Powers (especially w/Great Britain and France)

British Blockade

• Britain used navy to blockade German coast to stop contraband (weapons, military goods) from getting through

• This also included food• US ships refused to cross blockades into

Germany• Germany couldn’t get food and fertilizer (nitrates

from domestic fertilizer already used up in ammunition)

• Famine spread. 750,000+ Germans died.

German Reactions

• Counter blocked with unterseeboots (U-Boats) or submarines

• Germany declared all cargoes heading to Great Britain as contraband and could be sunk without warning

• UNRESTRICTED SUBMARINE WARFARE• 75,000 died• More people heard about this than German

famine b/c of spread propaganda• US outraged!!!!

Lusitania

• May 17, 1915• British passenger liner sunk by U-Boats off

coast of Ireland• 1198 died, including 128 Americans• Germans claimed boat was carrying

munitions and explosives• US agreed to stay neutral b/c Germany

agreed to stop• Germany ultimately went back on word

1916 Election

• “He kept us out of war!”• Slogan used by

President Woodrow Wilson to win the election.

• People wanted to stay out of war and believed that Wilson would continue to keep them out of it.

Zimmerman Note

• January 31, 1917, Germany declares that U-Boats will sink ALL ships in British waters

• Wilson waits for OVERT act to declare war on Germany

• British agents intercept a telegraph from the German Foreign Minister to the German ambassador in Mexico

Zimmerman Note (cont’d)

• Telegram suggests that Mexico and Germany should set up an alliance.

• If Mexico can help keep the US out of the war, Germany, upon completion of the war, would come and help Mexico reclaim its ‘lost’ lands (Texas, New Mexico, etc)

It All Adds Up:

• Unrestricted submarine warfare

• The sinking of the Lusitania

• The Zimmerman Note

• Democracy vs. Brutal Regimes

US GOES TO WAR ON APRIL 6, 1917 (three years after it began in Europe)

We’ve Declared War, Now What?

Problem #1: We need to raise an ARMY

• We only have 200,000 men, most have never seen combat

• 55 planes• 130 pilots

We’ve Declared War, Now What?

Solution:• Selective Service Act may 1917

– Required men to register for military service– No riots like Civil War times– 10 million registered immediately– 24 million by 1918– 18-45 years old, most 21-23 years old and

never attended high school– 1out of 5 were born in foreign countries

•

Training

You’re in the Army Now!

• Training– 9 months– 17 hour days– Target practice, bayonet drills– Kitchen and cleaning duty– Few real weapons practices

with rocks (grenades) and

poles (bayonets), carved rifles

What About the Women?• Women not drafted• Navy and marines

allowed women in non-combat roles (secretaries, nurses, operators)

• Less pay, lower ranks, less benefits

• Proud to serve nonetheless

African American Roles

• Segregated units

• Segregated facilities

• Excluded from Marines and Navy

• Some African Americans were trained as officers

• Most African Americans saw non-combat roles for the majority of the war

Harlem Hellfighters

369th Infantry, awarded the Croix de Guerre for gallantry in action

Now that we’ve declared war, how do we get there?

• Problem #2: How do we transport troops, machinery, weapons, and food supplies overseas in the face of German submarine attacks?

Now that we’ve declared war, how do we get there?

• Solution:

1. Shipyard worked became exempt from draft

2. US used public relations to emphasize the importance of ship workers

3. Shipyards used fabrication technology• Standardized parts built elsewhere and assembled

at the ship yard (decreased construction time)

4. US took control over private and Great Lakes ship production

USS Pennsylvania

How do we get there without getting blown up?

• Convoy System– Merchant vessels

traveled with large groups of destroyers and cruisers

– Like an armed escort

• US lay 230 miles of mines from North Sea to Norway

USS South Carolina

What happened when we got there?

• We brought new enthusiasm since the war had already been going on for THREE YEARS!!!

• New men

• New weapons

• More supplies

• Shot in the Arm mentality

Why did they call us “Doughboys”

• It had nothing to do with food!• American infantrymen (foot soldiers) wore white

belts they cleaned with pipe clay or “dough”

Who was General John J. Pershing

• American Expeditionary Force (AEF) commander

What kinds of techniques and weapons did we use?• The Europeans had

been using Trench Warfare– Two opposing

trenches with “no man’s land” in between.

– Took a long time, very difficult, very dirty and unsanitary

Trench Warfare

Cross Section of a trench

French Trench Kitchen

Trench Periscope

Trench Foot

What kinds of techniques and weapons did we use?

• Poison gasses *Gas masks• Mustard gas• Barbed wire • Machine guns• Grenades

Anti-aircraft Guns

Don’t believe everything you see..

“Calamity Jane," a US 11th Field Artillery howitzer credited with the last US-fired shot of the war,

10:59 AM, 11 Nov 1918

Mustard Gas

US Soldier with Gas Mask

What kinds of techniques and weapons did we use?

• Mechanized Warfare (powered by gas or diesel engines)

• Zeppelins (blimps)

• Airplanes

• Tanks

• “Big Bertha”

Weapons Cont’d

Airplanes and Dogfights

Submarines

How did the soldiers handle warfare?

• Lice

• Rats

• Polluted water

• Dysentery

• Poison gasses

• Lack of sleep

• Smell of dead bodies

How did the soldiers handle warfare?

• “Shell Shock” (emotional collapse)• “Trench Foot”

– wet trenches wet feet foot rot amputation)

Peace Settlement

• 1919 reps of 27 nations met in Paris to make final settlement of Great War

• Woodrow Wilson: US Pres 14 Points– Democratic principles, no secret alliances,

League of Nations

• Other nations (Esp GB and FR) wanted revenge and reparations

• People were tired of war

Paris Peace Conference• AKA: Treaty of Versailles (1919)

• Big Four: George, Wilson, Clemenceau, Orlando

• Russia not included (had w/d b/c of Rev)

Overall

• Germany lost:–13% of its national territory –All of its overseas colonies (including

Cameroon, German East Africa, German SW Africa, Togo, and German New Guinea 12.5% of its population

–16% of its coalfields, and 48% of its iron and steel industry.

Territorial restrictions

– Alsace-Lorraine yielded to France. –Saar coal fields placed under French

control for 15 years. –Annexation of Austria was prohibited. –Annexation of Czechoslovakia

prohibited. –Annexation of Poland and Danzig

prohibited. –Japan received German landholdings in

northern China

Military Limitations

• The Rhineland to be a demilitarized zone. • The German armed forces cannot number more

than 100,000 troops and no conscription. • Manufacturing of weapons is prohibited. • Import and export of weapons is prohibited. • Manufacture or stockpiling of poison gas is

prohibited. • Tanks, submarines and military aircraft are

prohibited.

War Guilt Clause

• Article 231 (out of 440) • “The Allied and Associated Governments affirm

and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.”

The 14th Point

• The treaty provided for the creation of the League of Nations, a major goal of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.

• The League of Nations was intended to arbitrate international disputes and thereby avoid future wars.

• The US Senate refused to ratify the Treaty in 1919