U.S. declared war on Germany in April, 1917

With more and better-prepared troops plus war materiel, we were able to help break the stalemate

England and France were in great need of help because Russia pulled out of the war in 1917

The Russian Revolution had started in Russia and the people wanted out of World War I

Vladimir Lenin had made a deal with Germany that said if Lenin came to power in Russia, he would pull Russia out of the fighting

In return, Germany would help transport Lenin back into Russia; Lenin had been in Europe

Lenin also had to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany• This gave Germany a good third of western

Russia where the population was great, resources were plentiful, and factories were concentrated

Russian people wanted peace and bread Lenin promised them this and got into

power The Tsar had abdicated would soon be

killed along with his family

The final great battle of the war was along a 24-mile line in the Argonne Forest near the French – German border

Over 1 million American “doughboys”, as they were called, were there on 11 November 1918 when Germany surrendered

That day became known as Armistice Day

Germany surrendered because their Kaiser fled, her people were starving, and sailors were mutinying

After the armistice was signed, Germany was placed in the hands of democratic leaders who formed the Weimar Republic

The winners of the war generally wanted revenge

They wanted to destroy Germany’s military and economic strength

They wished to totally blame Germany for the war

Peace Talks

Began in January 1919 They were held at Versailles The three main leaders at the

conference were Georges Clemenceau of France, David Lloyd George of Great Britain, and Woodrow Wilson of the United States

Clemenceau and George wanted revenge

Wilson wanted a just peace; he felt if Germany was backed into a corner, that at a future date, she would lash out again

Wilson wanted his 14 Points for how to conduct world affairs accepted

However, the only point of the 14 Points that Wilson got into the treaty was the one promoting a League of Nations (precursor to the United Nations)

Generally, the treaty was out for revenge and was harsh

Terms of the Treaty of Versailles

German army was limited to 100,000 men who would serve long stints in the army

Germany could not have an air force or submarines

Austria could not merge with Germany Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman

Empire were broken up and new boundaries were set: Czechoslovakia, Poland etc.

Germany had to pay reparations – pay for the entire cost of the war - $33 billion or 132 billion gold marks

Germany was blamed totally for the war Germany was humiliated Germany felt forced to sign; her people

were starving

All nations that took part in the peace conference with the exception of the U.S. signed the treaty

The U.S. did not sign primarily because it did not like the idea of a League of Nations; U.S. didn’t want to join an alliance and this seemed like an alliance

Wilson went on a whistle stop tour of the United States urging the people to write Congress and tell them to sign the treaty

The stress proved too great and Wilson suffered a massive stroke; he then returned to Washington debilitated

Results of World War I

Weakened League of Nations because U.S. was not in it

Communist Russia Shaky S.E. Europe; the newly formed nations

were unstable U.S. isolationism Britain refused to help France in future conflicts France was alone sharing a border with

Germany; no support

Germany was disarmed and humiliated Germans did not like the Weimar

Republic that had formed upon the signing of the armistice

U.S. Home Front

Some were for going to war; others were against it

Teddy Roosevelt wanted to fight and lead men into battle

Republican Progressives wanted neutrality

After war was declared, most supported it even if they thought it was a mistake

Government grew ; new agencies were created to conduct the business of the war

5,000 new agencies were set up over a 20-month period; some were effective and some were useless

• Aircraft Production Board – failure because it could not produce the 22,000 planes ordered in one year; it did produce 1500

• Shipping Board – successfully produced vessels twice as fast as the Germans could sink them

• U.S. Railway Administration – Wilson’s son-in-law efficiently reorganized the railroads

War Industries Board• Headed by Wall St. millionaire, Bernard

Baruch

• Many production boards were housed under this agency

Food Administration• Headed by millionaire, Herbert Hoover

• Successful agency

• Organized food production, distribution, and consumption

• American farms were to feed the U.S., Allied Armies, and European civilians

• Hooverized

• No rationing took place in U.S.

• Hoover established Wheatless Mondays, Meatless Tuesdays, Porkless Wednesdays

• The savings were sent overseas

• He promoted ways of fixing leftovers

• He asked Americans to plant Victory Gardens

• Farmers bought and cultivated more land

• Foodstuffs greatly increased

Selective Service Act was passed in May of 1917• Registration was compulsory for all men

between 21 and 45 (age lowered to 18 in 1918)

• 2 million volunteers and 3 million drafted

• 21,000 draftees claimed conscientious objectors status on religious grounds

• 4,000 of those were assigned to non-combatant duty

• 500 were imprisoned for refusing any service; they were treated poorly and some remained in jail until1933

Labor• Samuel Gompers, head of the AFL, was

given a seat on the War Industries Board

• He agreed to a no-strike policy during the war

• Business boomed and wages rose

• There was a rise in union membership

African-Americans

Wartime jobs in the north prompted a massive migration of Southern Blacks to northern cities

Race riots resulted in some northern cities• “Red Summer of 1919” – race riots in 2 dozen

cities and towns in the U.S.

African-Americans also served in the army• in segregated units

• Some with Black leaders saw combat

• Most dug trenches and loaded trucks

Women

Armed forces inducted woman as nurses and clerical workers

They also worked in factories in jobs formerly closed to them

They worked as trolley operators, delivery truck drivers, street cleaners, directors of traffic,

Built planes etc.

Was controversial for some men who remained at home• Women worked faster

• Women produced more

• This made the men look bad

When the war was over, women were expected to return to the home, their “proper sphere”

Women’s war efforts resulted in the passage of women’s suffrage, the 19th Amendment; it was presented on 4 June 1919 and ratified in 1920

Carrie Chapman Catt said that war had liberated women

Prohibition

Gained strength during the war Liquor used needed grain Many Germans ran U.S. breweries

• Germans wished to show they were 100% American, so they voluntarily cut back on grain used or stopped brewing beer during war

Hooverizing, moralism, and insistence on being 100% American resulted in the passage of the 18th Amendment in December of 1917 -- Prohibition

Attack on Civil Liberties

Committee on Public Information• Propaganda agency created by Wilson

• Used to shape and mobilize public opinion

• Wrote anti-German tracts

• Promoted self-censorship of press

• Encouraged spying on a person’s neighbors

Espionage and Sedition Acts• Loosely worded laws that gave the

government wide authority to prosecute critics of the war ( walked on our freedom of speech)

• There were numerous arrests, mainly newspaper editors

There was also vigilantism ; people were intimidated into silence

During the war, the Wilson Administration concentrated on suppressing the IWW and the Socialist Party

The Supreme Court upheld the Espionage and Sedition Acts

Red Scare

After the Bolshevik Revolution in late 1917, American hatred for Germany was transferred to the Communists of Russia

Many applied the term “Red” to all radicals, war critics, union leaders, and reformers

After the war, a wave of labor strikes stimulated the “Red Scare”

Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer, created the F.B.I. to fight it

Inspired more vigilantism Palmer Raids, January of 1920 showed

blatant disregard for civil liberties in raids without search warrants

Palmer soon lost credibility with his exaggerated tactics

Experience of the War

Exposed the differences of the American people and deep divisions among them

The government intervened in the economy and influenced people’s lives as never before

Left the U.S. the world’s leading economic power and largest trading nation

The military became more professional The international system that took hold

was unstable It undercut progressivism and reform

Election of 1920

Warren G. Harding ran against James M. Cox

Harding won with his “Return to Normalcy”