World War I and South Carolina What role did South Carolina play with its involvement in World War I?

How World War I Began It begins in the Balkans with Russia and Austria-Hungary trying to dominate the region. Serbian Nationalists want to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand in 1914. He has a bomb thrown into his open topped car and he throws it out. Later he is visiting individuals hurt in the attack and he is shot.

The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

Over the next few weeks, most of the major European countries are at war President Wilson issues a proclamation of neutrality…U.S. will stay out of the war.

Triple Alliance (later Central Power) Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire

Triple Entente (later Allied Powers) Russia Great Britain France United States (joined in 1917)

How the U.S. became involved World War I (WWI) The U.S. remained neutral for the first 3 years of the war. So what got us involved? The sinking of a British passenger ship, the Lusitania, by German U-boats in the spring of 1915. Why does this matter? The ship was carrying 100 American passengers.

A German U-Boat

The Lusitania Sunk

The last straw was the interception of the Zimmerman Note. The German Command said it would torpedo any boat. Neutrality did not matter! The last straw was the interception of the Zimmerman Note. This telegraph proposed German support for a Mexican attack in the U.S. southwest.

On April 4, 1917 the Senate voted “yes” to enter the war. For their involvement, Mexico would get the land it lost during the Mexican-American war. (Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada) On April 4, 1917 the Senate voted “yes” to enter the war. On April 7, 1917 the House voted “yes” to enter the war.

The Zimmerman Telegraph

World War I Map

We Want You! The U.S. was not ready to enter the war, so Congress passed the Selective Service Act to ensure there would be enough soldiers for the effort. Selective Service Act = Draft law that required any male between the ages of 21-30 to register for service and serve if called.

WWI Recruiting Poster

WWI Recruiting Poster

WWI Recruiting Poster

Almost 24 million males signed up for the “draft” and 2 Almost 24 million males signed up for the “draft” and 2.7 million were “called up” for service. Sample Draft Card

On November 11, 1918 Germany signs the armistice which ends the war. Today, we celebrate Veteran’s Day (Armistice Day) to remember the end of World War I

South Carolina Military Bases Camp Sevier – Located in Greenville to train soldiers to fight in WWI. They even had to use wooden guns because the real ones could only be used for war. Camp Wadsworth – Located in Spartanburg to train the National Guard troops for the war. Fort Jackson – Located in Columbia which transformed a barren farm into the largest military base in the state.

Parris Island - Located on Parris Island in the southern part of South Carolina where Marines were trained to fight in WWI. Charleston Naval Yard – Located in Charleston, this naval yard built and repaired ships for the war effort.

Camp Sevier Camp Wadsworth Charleston Naval Yard Fort Jackson Parris Island

A Major South Carolinian in WWI Bernard Baruch (born in Camden) was chosen by President Wilson to lead the War Industries Board Under his leadership, the country produced every kind of war supply possible This production helped the U.S. achieve victory in WWI

The “Great” Migration In 1910, three out of every four black Americans lived on farms, and nine out of ten lived in the South before WWI. After 1917, hoping to escape tenant farming, sharecropping, and peonage, 1.5 million southern blacks moved to cities in the late teens and 1920s.

During the 1910s and '20s, Chicago's black population grew 148 percent, Cleveland's by 307 percent, Detroit's by 611 percent. African Americans created cities-within-cities during the 1920s. The largest was Harlem, in upper Manhattan, where 200,000 African Americans lived in a neighborhood that had been virtually all-white fifteen years before.