1. Becoming a World Power (1890–1915)
Chapter 17
Becoming a World Power
(1890–1915)

2. The Pressure to Expand
What factors led to the growth of imperialism around the world?
In what ways did the United States begin to expand its interests abroad in the late 1800s?
What arguments were made in favor of United States expansion in the 1890s?

3. Growth of Imperialism
Under imperialism, stronger nations attempt to create empires by dominating weaker nations. The late 1800s marked the peak of European imperialism, with much of Africa and Asia under foreign domination.
Several factors account for the growth of imperialism.
Economic factors: The growth of industry increased the need for natural resources.
Nationalistic factors: Competition among European nations for large empires was the result of a rise in nationalism—or devotion to one’s own nation.
Military factors: Europe had better armies than Africa and Asia, and it needed bases around the world to refuel and supply navy ships.
Humanitarian factors: Europeans believed that they had a duty to spread the blessings of western civilizations to other countries.

4. Growth of Imperialism
By 1890, the United States was eager to join the competition for new territory. Supporters of expansion denied that the United States sought to annex foreign lands. (To annex is to join a new territory to an existing country.) Yet annexation did take place.

5. Expanding U.S. Interests
The Monroe Doctrine
Originally meant that the United States declared itself neutral in European wars and warned other nations to stay out of the Western Hemisphere.
Later, the doctrine was interpreted to mean a more active role to protect the interests of the United States.
Seward’s Folly
In 1867, Secretary of State William Seward bought Alaska from Russia

6. Expanding U.S. Interests
Midway Islands
Seward bought the uninhabited Midway Islands for use as repairing and refueling stations for navy vessels in the Pacific.
Latin America and Hawaii
The United States signed a treaty with Hawaii and took a more active role in protecting Latin America.

7. Arguments for U.S. Expansion
Promoting Economic Growth
The United States needed to secure new markets in other countries.
The United Fruit Company invested and gained political influence in some Central American nations. These nations were called banana republics.
Protecting American Security
An expanded navy with bases around the world would protect U.S. Interests. By 1900, the United States had one of the most powerful navies in the world.

8. Arguments for U.S. Expansion
Preserving American Spirit
Some leaders of the day believed that introducing Christianity and modern civilization to less developed nations around the world was a noble pursuit.

9. States Exports

10. The Spanish-American War
How did the activities of the United States in Latin America set the stage for war with Spain?
What were the events leading up to and following the Spanish-American War?
What challenges did the United States face after the war?
Why did the United States seek to gain influence in the Pacific?

11. Setting the Stage for War
By demanding that a dispute between Venezuela and Great Britain be sent to arbitration, the United States defended the validity of the Monroe Doctrine. (Arbitration is the settlement of a dispute by a person or panel chosen to listen to both sides and come to a decision.) The British government backed down because it needed to stay on friendly terms with the United States.
The United States became involved in the Cuban rebellion against Spain, to protect American business interests.

12. Setting the Stage for War
In competition for readership, two New York newspapers wrote exaggerated stories about the Cuban rebellion. This yellow journalism sold a lot of papers but had other effects as well:
It whipped up American public opinion in favor of the Cuban rebels.
It led to a burst of national pride and the desire for an aggressive foreign policy, which became known as jingoism.

13. The Spanish-American War
Steps to War
The USS Maine was stationed in Havana harbor.
Spanish Ambassador de Lôme insulted President McKinley.
The USS Maine exploded, and the American public blamed Spain.
Congress recognized Cuban independence and authorized force against Spain.

14. The Spanish-American War
“A Splendid Little War”
May 1, 1898: The United States launched a surprise attack in Manila Bay and destroyed Spain’s entire Pacific fleet in seven hours.
July 1: Roosevelt led the Rough Riders up San Juan Hill.
July 3: The United States Navy sank the remaining Spanish ships.

15. The Spanish-American War
The Treaty of Paris
The Spanish government recognized Cuba’s independence.
Spain gave up the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico in return for $20 million. The island nations then became unincorporated territories of the United States.

16. The Spanish-American War

17. New Challenges After the War
The Philippines
President McKinley’s arguments for annexation:
Filipinos were unfit for self-government.
Independence would bring anarchy.
European powers would try to seize the islands.
The Filipinos fought a three-year war for independence.
The Philippines did not gain complete independence until 1946.

18. New Challenges After the War
Cuba
President McKinley installed a military government to protect American business interests.
Cuba drafted a constitution in 1900 that did not allow for U.S. involvement.
The U.S. government only agreed to remove its troops if Cuba included the Platt Amendment.
The Platt Amendment remained in place until It allowed for U.S. naval bases on the island and intervention whenever necessary.

19. United States Acquisitions and Annexations 1857-1904

20. Other Gains in the Pacific
The United States government intervened in other parts of the Pacific at the same time that events played out in the Spanish-American War. This intervention eventually brought about changes in the relationships of the United States with Hawaii, Samoa, and China.
Hawaii became increasingly important to United States business interests. Hawaii also leased Pearl Harbor to the United States as a fueling and repair station for naval vessels. In 1898, Congress approved the annexation of Hawaii.

21. Other Gains in the Pacific
The Polynesian islands of Samoa and their harbor at Pago Pago were also important to the United States. A year after the annexation of Hawaii, the United States acquired the harbor at Pago Pago as well.
China’s huge population and its vast markets became very important to American trade. President McKinley’s Secretary of State, John Hay, wrote notes to the major European powers trying to persuade them to keep an “open door” to China. He wanted to ensure through his Open Door Policy that the United States would have equal access to China’s millions of consumers.

22. A New Foreign Policy
Why did the United States want to build the Panama Canal?
What were the goals of Theodore Roosevelt’s “big stick” diplomacy?
In what ways did the foreign policies of Presidents Taft and Wilson differ from those of President Roosevelt?

23. The Panama Canal
Americans needed a shorter route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. A French company had bought a 25-year concession from Colombia to build a canal across Panama. (A concession is a grant for a piece of land in exchange for a promise to use the land for a specific purpose.) Defeated by yellow fever and mismanagement, the company abandoned the project and offered its remaining rights to the United States for $100 million.

24. The Panama Canal

25. Roosevelt’s Big Stick Diplomacy
“Speak softly and carry a big stick and you will go far.” Roosevelt used this old African proverb to guide his foreign policy.
The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine — The United States will act as “an international police power” in the Western Hemisphere and intervene to prevent intervention by other powers.
Roosevelt in Latin America — Under Roosevelt, the United States often intervened in Latin America.
Roosevelt in Asia — Roosevelt wanted to preserve an open door to trade with China. He won a Nobel peace prize for negotiating a peace settlement between Russia and Japan.

26. Foreign Policy After Roosevelt
William Howard Taft
Elected President in 1908
Taft believed in maintaining influence through American investments, not military might.
This policy was called dollar diplomacy.
The United States reached new heights of international power under Roosevelt and Taft.
However, the policies of both Presidents also created enemies in Latin America and a growing international resentment of U.S. intervention.

27. Foreign Policy After Roosevelt
Woodrow Wilson
Under Wilson, the United States applied more moral and legalistic standards to foreign policy decisions.
Wilson’s policy drew the United States into the complex and bloody Mexican Revolution.
Wilson’s “moral diplomacy” did not work well in Mexico. Many lives were lost, and U.S. financial interests lost ground.
U.S.–Mexico relations were strained for many years.

28. United States Interventions, 1898-1934

29. Debating America’s New Role
What were the main arguments raised by the anti- imperialists?
Why did imperialism appeal to many Americans?
How was American imperialism viewed from abroad?

30. Debating Imperialism Anti-Imperialists
A moral and political argument: Expansionism was a rejection of our nation’s founding principle of “liberty for all.”
A racial argument: Imperialism was just another form of racism. (race is the reason for differences in character and intelligence)
An economic argument: Expansion involved too many costs. Maintaining the armed forces required more taxation, debt, and possibly even compulsory, or required, military service. In addition, laborers from other countries would compete for jobs with U.S. workers.

31. Debating Imperialism Pro-Imperialists
Imperialism offered a new kind of frontier for American expansion.
A new international frontier would keep Americans from losing their competitive edge.
Access to foreign markets made the economy stronger.
In 1907, President Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet, part of the United States Navy, on a cruise around the world to demonstrate U.S. naval power to other nations. American citizens clearly saw the advantages of having a powerful navy.

32. Imperialism Viewed From Abroad
In the Caribbean and Central America, the United States often had to defend governments that were unpopular with local inhabitants.
Many U.S. citizens in Latin America heard the cry “Yankee, Go Home!”
Even before the completion of the Panama Canal, the Panamanians began to complain that they suffered from discrimination.

33. Imperialism Viewed From Abroad
However, many countries also began to turn to the United States for help.
The United States was both welcomed and rejected in other countries.
The American government still struggles to reconcile its great power and national interests with its relationships with other nations.

34. Chapter 19
The World War I Era
(1914–1920)

35. The Road to War What were the main causes of World War I?
How did the conflict expand to draw in much of Europe?
In what ways did the United States respond to the war in Europe?

36. Causes of World War I
The immediate cause of the Great War, later to be known as World War I, was the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on June 28, However, the main causes of the war existed long before 1914.
At the time of his assassination, Francis Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, had been visiting Bosnia, a new Austro-Hungarian province. He was shot by Gavrilo Princip, a 19-year-old Bosnian nationalist who believed that Austria- Hungary had no right to rule Bosnia.

37. MAIN Causes of World War I
Militarism
By the early 1900s, powerful nations in Europe had adopted policies of militarism, or aggressively building up armed forces and giving the military more authority over government and foreign policy.
Alliances
In a complicated system of alliances, different groups of European nations had pledged to come to one another’s aid in the event of attack.

38. MAIN Causes of World War I
Imperialism
Competition for colonial lands in Africa and elsewhere led to conflict among the major European powers.
Nationalism
One type of nationalism inspired the great powers of Europe to act in their own interests. Another emerged as ethnic minorities within larger nations sought self-government.

39. The Conflict Expands
Convinced that Serbia was behind the Archduke’s assassination, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914.
Russia, as Serbia’s protector, began mobilization, or the readying of troops for war.
France, Russia’s ally, and Germany, Austria- Hungary’s ally, also began mobilization.

40. The Conflict Expands
Germany, located between France and Russia, wanted to conquer France quickly to avoid the need to fight on two fronts. To get to France, German forces had to pass through neutral Belgium; the invasion of Belgium brought Britain into the conflict as well.
One week after the war started, all the great powers of Europe had been drawn into it. Germany and Austria-Hungary formed the Central Powers, while Russia, France, Serbia, and Great Britain were called the Allies.

41. The War in Europe, 1914–1918
When Austria- Hungary declared war on Serbia, the complex alliance system in Europe drew much of the continent into the conflict.

42. Stalemate and Modern Warfare
By September 1914, the war had reached a stalemate, a situation in which neither side is able to gain an advantage.
When a French and British force stopped a German advance near Paris, both sides holed up in trenches separated by an empty “no man’s land.” Small gains in land resulted in huge numbers of human casualties.
Both sides continued to add new allies, hoping to gain an advantage.

43. Stalemate and Modern Warfare
Neither soldiers nor officers were prepared for the new, highly efficient killing machines used in World War I.
Machine guns, hand grenades, artillery shells, and poison gas killed thousands of soldiers who left their trenches to attack the enemy.
As morale fell, the lines between soldiers and civilians began to blur. The armies began to burn fields, kill livestock, and poison wells.

44. The American Response
Because many Americans were European immigrants or the children of European immigrants, many felt personally involved in the escalating war. Although some had sympathies for the Central Powers, most Americans supported the Allies.
Support for the Allies was partially caused by Germany’s rule by an autocrat, a ruler with unlimited power. In addition, anti-German propaganda, or information intended to sway public opinion, turned many Americans against the Central Powers.
To protect American investments overseas , President Wilson officially proclaimed the United States a neutral country on August 4, 1914.

45. The Preparedness and Peace Movements
The Preparedness Movement
Americans with business ties to Great Britain wanted their country to be prepared to come to Britain’s aid if necessary.
In an effort to promote “preparedness,” the movement’s leaders persuaded the government to set up military training camps and increase funding for the armed forces.

46. The Preparedness and Peace Movements
The Peace Movement
Other Americans, including women, former Populists, Midwest progressives, and social reformers, advocated peace.
Peace activists in Congress insisted on paying for preparedness by increasing taxes. Although they had hoped that a tax increase would decrease support for preparedness, the movement remained strong.

47. The United States Declares War
How did Germany’s use of submarines affect the war?
What moves did the United States take toward war in early 1917?

48. German Submarine Warfare
To break a stalemate at sea, Germany began to employ U-boats, short for Unterseeboot, the German word for submarine. U-boats, traveling under water, could sink British supply ships with no warning.
When the British cut the transatlantic cable, which connected Germany and the United States, only news with a pro-Allied bias was able to reach America. American public opinion was therefore swayed against Germany’s U-boat tactics.

49. The Lusitania and the Sussex Pledge
The Sinking of the Lusitania
On May 7,1915, a German U-boat sank the British passenger liner Lusitania, which had been carrying both passengers and weapons for the Allies.
Since 128 American passengers had been on board, the sinking of the Lusitania brought the United States closer to involvement in the war.

50. The Lusitania and the Sussex Pledge
More Americans were killed when Germany sank the Sussex, a French passenger steamship, on March 24,1916.
In what came to be known as the Sussex pledge, the German government promised that U-boats would warn ships before attacking, a promise it had made and broken before.

51. Moving Toward War Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
On January 31, 1917, Germany announced its intent to end the Sussex pledge and return to unrestricted submarine warfare.
This action caused the United States to break off diplomatic relations with Germany.
Despite this announcement, the German navy did not attack any American ships in February, causing the United States to continue to hope for peace.

52. Moving Toward War The Zimmermann Note
During this time, Britain revealed an intercepted telegram to the government of Mexico from Germany’s foreign minister, Arthur Zimmermann.
In this telegram, known as the Zimmermann note, Germany offered to return American lands to Mexico if Mexico declared war on the United States.
Neither Mexico nor President Wilson took the Zimmermann note seriously, but it brought America closer to entering the war.

53. Zimmerman Note

55. The War Resolution
When the Russian Revolution replaced Russia’s autocratic czar with a republican government in March 1917, the United States no longer needed to be concerned about allying itself with an autocratic nation. This removed one more stumbling block to an American declaration of war.
As Germany continued to sink American ships in March, President Wilson’s patience for neutrality wore out. On April 6, 1917, the President signed Congress’s war resolution, officially bringing the United States into the war.

56. Americans on the European Front
How did the United States prepare to fight in World War I?
In what ways did American troops help turn the tide of war?
What were conditions like in Europe and in the United States at the end of the war?

57. Moving Toward War Building an Army
Despite the preparedness movement, the United States lacked a large and available military force. Congress therefore passed a Selective Service Act in May 1917, drafting many young men into the military.
Draftees, volunteers, and National Guardsmen made up what was called the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), led by General John J. Pershing.

58. Moving Toward War Training for War
New recruits were trained in the weapons and tactics of the war by American and British lecturers at new and expanded training camps around the country.
Ideally, the military planned to give new soldiers several months of training. However, the need to send forces to Europe quickly sometimes cut training time short

59. The Convoy System and Americans in Europe
To transport troops across the Atlantic, the United States employed convoys, or groups of unarmed ships surrounded by armed naval vessels equipped to track and destroy submarines.
Due to the convoy system, German submarines did not sink a single ship carrying American troops.

60. The Convoy System and Americans in Europe
American Soldiers in Europe
By 1918, European nations had begun to run out of men to recruit. Energetic American soldiers, nicknamed doughboys, helped replace the tired fighters of Europe.
Many African Americans volunteered or were drafted for service. However, these men served in segregated units and were often relegated to noncombat roles.

61. Turning the Tide of War
New methods of military transportation, including tanks, airplanes, and German zeppelins, or floating airships, influenced the manner in which the war was fought.
In the spring of 1918, Germany provided safe passage for Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Russian Bolsheviks, from Switzerland to Russia. The Bolsheviks successfully overthrew the Russian republican government and made peace with Germany.

62. Turning the Tide of War
The resulting truce ceded valuable Russian land to Germany and also meant that the German military could concentrate exclusively on the Western front. Before the arrival of American troops, Germany was able to gain ground in France, coming within 50 miles of Paris.
General Pershing’s troops, however, pushed back the Germans in a series of attacks. Finally, the German army was driven to full retreat in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive begun on September 26,

63. Ending the War
In the face of Allied attacks and domestic revolutions, the Central Powers collapsed one by one. Austria- Hungary splintered into smaller nations of ethnic groups, and German soldiers mutinied, feeling that defeat was inevitable.
When the Kaiser of Germany fled to Holland, a civilian representative of the new German republic signed an armistice, or cease-fire, in a French railroad car at 5am on November 11, 1918.

64. Ending the War
Although guns fell silent six hours later, many more deaths were to follow. The influenza epidemic of killed more people, both in the United States and Europe, than all of the wartime battles.

65. Results of the War Dead and Wounded
The estimated death toll of World War I was 8 million soldiers and civilians, including tens of thousands of Americans. Many more had lost limbs or been blinded by poison gas. However, the efforts of the Red Cross and other agencies had helped save many lives.
Loss of Young Men
Many sensed that the war had destroyed an entire generation of young men and grieved for the loss of their talents and abilities.

66. Results of the War Genocide
In an act of genocide, or organized killing of an entire people, the Ottoman Empire had murdered hundreds of thousands of Armenians suspected of disloyalty to the government.

67. Americans on the Home Front
What steps did the government take to finance the war and manage the economy?
How did the government enforce loyalty to the war effort?
How did the war change the lives of Americans on the home front?

68. Financing the War
Modern warfare required huge amounts of money and personnel.
Many sacrifices within the United States were needed to meet these demands.
The government raised money for the war in part by selling Liberty Bonds, special war bonds to support the Allied cause.
Like all bonds, these could be redeemed later for their original value plus interest.
Many patriotic Americans bought liberty bonds, raising more than $20 billion for the war effort.

69. Managing the Economy
United States entry into the war caused many industries to switch from commercial to military production. A newly created War Industries Board oversaw this production. New labor-related agencies helped ensure that labor disputes did not disrupt the war effort.
Using the slogan, “Food will win the war,” Herbert Hoover, head of the Food Administration and future President, began to manage how much food people bought.

70. Managing the Economy
Although he had the power to impose price controls, a system of pricing determined by the government, and rationing, or distributing goods to customers in a fixed amount, Hoover preferred to rely on voluntary restraint and increased efficiency.
Daylight savings time was created to save on fuel use and increase the number of daylight hours available for work. This involved turning clocks back one hour for the summer, creating one more hour of daylight.

71. Enforcing Loyalty Fear of Foreigners
Fear of espionage, or spying, was widespread; restrictions on immigration were called for and achieved.
“Hate the Hun”
The war spurred a general hostility toward Germans, often referred to as Huns in reference to European invaders of the fourth and fifth centuries. German music, literature, language, and cuisine became banned or unpopular.

72. Enforcing Loyalty Repression of Civil Liberties
Despite Wilson’s claim that the United States fought for liberty and democracy, freedom of speech was reduced during the war. Sedition, or any speech or action that encourages rebellion, became a crime.
Political Radicals
Socialists, who argued that workers had no stake in the war, won popular support in some states.
The radical labor organization Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) tried to interfere with war production; vigilantes took the law into their own hands.

73. Changing People’s Lives
African Americans and Other Minorities
With much of the work force in the military, factory owners and managers who had once discriminated against minorities began actively recruiting them.
The flood of African Americans leaving the South to work in northern factories became known as the Great Migration.
New Roles for Women
The diminished male work force also created new opportunities for women.
Many women joined the work force for the first time during the war. Some found work on farms with the Woman’s Land Army; others took jobs traditionally reserved for men.

74. Global Peacemaker
What expectations did Wilson and the Allies bring to the Paris Peace Conference?
What were the important provisions of the peace treaty?
How did the federal government and ordinary Americans react to the end of war?

75. President Wilson’s Proposals
As the war neared an end, President Wilson developed a program for peace around the world known as the Fourteen Points, named for the number of provisions it contained.
One of Wilson’s Fourteen Points called for an end to entangling alliances; another involved a reduction of military forces. Another dealt with the right of Austria-Hungary’s ethnic groups to self-determination, or the power to make decisions about their own future.

76. President Wilson’s Proposals
Although both Wilson and the German government assumed that the Fourteen Points would form the basis of peace negotiations, the Allies disagreed. During peace negotiations, Wilson’s Fourteen Points were discarded one by one.

77. The Paris Peace Conference
Wilson Forced to Compromise
Although Wilson claimed that he was not interested in the spoils, or rewards, of war, his Allied colleagues were interested in making the Central Powers pay for war damages.
Wilson was forced to compromise on his views, especially concerning self-determination for former German colonies.

78. The Paris Peace Conference
The League of Nations
One of Wilson’s ideas, the formation of a League of Nations, was agreed upon at the Paris Peace Conference. The League of Nations was designed to bring the nations of the world together to ensure peace and security.
Republicans in Congress, however, were concerned about Article 10 of the League’s charter, which contained a provision that they claimed might draw the United States into unpopular foreign wars.

79. The Peace Treaty
The treaty which was negotiated at the Paris Peace Conference redrew the map of Europe to the Allies’ advantage.
Nine new nations were created from territory taken from Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Germany. Although most borders were drawn with the division of ethnic minorities in mind, the redivisions created new ethnic minorities in several countries.

80. The Peace Treaty
France insisted that Germany be humiliated and financially crippled. The peace treaty required Germany to pay billions of dollars in reparations, or payment for economic injury suffered during the war. Wilson, however, opposed this plan, claiming that these demands would lead to future wars.
On June 28, 1919, the peace treaty, which came to be known as the Versailles Treaty, was signed at Versailles, outside of Paris.

81. Redrawing the Map of Europe
At the Paris Peace Conference, Britain, France, and the United States redrew the map of Europe.

82. Reactions at Home Congress and the Treaty of Versailles
Despite Wilson’s intensive campaign in favor of the Versailles Treaty, Congress voted against ratifying it in November 1919.
The United States declared the war officially over on May 20, It ratified separate peace treaties with Germany, Austria, and Hungary. However, the United States did not join the newly formed League of Nations.

83. Reactions at Home Difficult Postwar Adjustments
The war had given a large boost to the American economy, making the United States the world’s largest creditor nation.
Soldiers returned home to a hero’s welcome but found that jobs were scarce.
African American soldiers, despite their service to their country, returned to find continued discrimination.
Many American artists entered the postwar years with a sense of gloom and disillusionment.