The Great War
The War to End All Wars
Causes (MAIN)
1. Militarism
a. 1890 – Germany the most powerful army
2. Alliances
a. alliances set up to assist one another if attacked
b. alliances weaken and less stable with passage of time
c. alliances were secretive
3. Imperialism
a. competition for colonies—need for raw materials and new markets
4. Nationalism
a. national interests and unity should be placed ahead of global cooperation
b. Foreign affairs should be guided by national self-interest
Triple Alliance – Central Powers
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Ottoman Empire
Bulgaria
Italy
Triple Entente – Allied Powers
England
France
Japan (enters in 1917)
US (enters in 1917)
Russia
GOAL: ISOLATE FRANCE
Had to leave war-internal problems
Powder Keg of Europe
Spark – Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
July 28, 1914
1. assassinated by a Serbian group called the Black Hand
2. Serbians want independence and are scattered throughout
Austria-Hungary empire
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia (Serbia and Germany allied)
Russia moved troops to German-Austrian border
Germany declared war on Russia
Germany declared war on France and invaded Belgium
Great Britain came in when France was invaded
Schlieffen Plan
Germany’s plan if it had to fight a
two-front war
1. Attack Russia first – weak, less
industrialized, not as mobile
2. Next attack France via Belgium
Key: Attack quickly (foreshadowed
bleitzkreig)
Trench warfare created
stalemates along the
eastern and western
fronts.
New Technologies
American Neutrality – Woodrow Wilson
“He kept us out of war”
“Make the world safe for democracy”
1. Difficult to maintain
a. ethnic diversity of Americans – relate to their ethnic origins
b. strong trading and banking links with England
2. American involvement
a. ensure Allied repayment of debts
b. prevent Germans from threatening shipping
3. Collapse of neutrality
a. unrestricted submarine warfare by Germans in 1917
1) renounced the Sussex Pledge
2) sinking of the Lusitania – Arabic - Sussex
b. Zimmerman Telegram
1) Germany wants to ally with Mexico in exchange Mexico will get territories lost in
the Mexican American War
Declaring War
1. Congress called into special session – 4/2/1917
a. anti-war Senators filibuster, but declaration passed
Total Warfare
1. Selective Service Act
a. males 21-30 must register; changes to 18-45
b. draftees: white, poorly-educated in early 20’s; blacks placed in segregated units
c. Commission on Training Camp Activities—keep soldiers moral and healthy
2. Financing the war
a. Liberty Loan Act – sell bonds
b. War Revenue Act – income tax
3. Espionage Act – 1917 and Sedition Act – 1918
a. eliminate opposition to the war including speech or writing
1) IWW and Socialists: saw war as imperialistic
2) Eugene Debs jailed when he criticized the government
a) Civil Liberties Bureau founded
b. Schenk v. US – 1919 (upheld Espionage Act)
1) established “Clear and Present Danger” test
2) freedom of speech not allowable when it caused insubordination
c. Abrams v. US -1919
1) upheld Schenk v. US - 1919
4. Lever Food and Fuel Act
a. created Food Administration and Fuel Administration
1) monitored and controlled fuel during wartime
2) stimulate production of food and ensure it was evenly distributed
5. Railroad Administration – McAdoo
a. Railroads nationalized
6. War Industries Board – Baruch
a. mobilize nation’s resources to win the war
b. Laid foundation for “industrial complex”
7. Committee on Public Information - George Creel
a. Wartime propaganda
8. National War Labor Board – Taft and Frank Walsh
a. Supervised labor relations; guaranteed union rights in exchange for industrial stability
Rise of anti-war feelings in America
1. Anti-war groups
a. Woman’s Peace Party
b. American Union against Militarism (pacifist Progressives)
c. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
d. Socialist Party
2. Opinions
a. kills young people
b. fosters repression
c. is not moral
d. business moguls make huge profits at expense of little guy
Pros and Cons on the Homefront
1. Boom years for farmers and industry
a. farmers become more mechanized
b. great growth in some industries
2. Severe coal shortages in 1917-1918; many do not have heat
3. Inflation
a. increased buying (more demand than supply)
b. liberal credit policies
c. fixed prices on raw material, not on finished products = skyrocketing prices
4. Labor shortage
a. unemployment decreased, wages increased
5. Migration to cities
a. women take on male jobs
b. African-Americans employed
American Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F.)
1. American soldiers and resources were the turning point
of World War I – 2nd Battle of Marne
11th hour of the
11th day of the
11th month
End of World
War I
The Big Four
Woodrow Wilson – United States
David Lloyd George – England
Georges Clemenceau – France
Vittorio Orlando - Italy
Wilson’s Fourteen Points – Paris Peace Conference – January 18, 1919
Key Points:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Self-determination
Freedom of the seas
Mandate system
League of Nations
Wilson’s Fourteen Points - 1918
1. Woodrow Wilson draws up
before end of war
Points 1-5
1. end of secret treaties
2. freedom of seas
3. free trade
4. reduce armies and navies
5. adjust colonial claims
Points 6 -13 Self-determination
Colonial people decide for
themselves what type of
government they want to live
under
Point 14
Establish a “League of Nations” to
peacefully negotiate solutions
Reactions to Versailles Treaty
1. Treaty did not protect US interests
2. Two camps
a. Irreconcilables – no treaty
b. Reservationists – treaty, but make changes first
Weakness of the Treaty of
Versailles (1919)
1. US rejected the treaty - want to
stay isolated
3. Colonial peoples’ independence
disregarded
4. League of Nations fails – US did not
support
2. Germany resented high
reparations and loss of military
US became dominant global nation
America Post War – Bolshevik Revolution – Labor Strikes – Red Scare
1. Bolshevik revolution
a. civil liberties of radicals suppressed
2. Red Scare
a. unemployment and post-war recession increase anti-radical feelings
b. strikes and mail bombs led to Red Scare
c. Palmer Raids: anti-radical groups such as American Legion join with Mitchell
Palmer, Attorney General
1) government agents break into meeting halls and homes without warrants and
make arrests
a) Palmer asks for a peacetime sedition act, but unsupported