1. THE GREAT WAR & AMERICA
The World War I Era
(1914–1920)

2. The Road to War

3. 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.
Imperialism Competition for colonial lands in Africa and elsewhere led to conflict among the major European powers.
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.
Nationalism One type of nationalism inspired the great powers of Europe to act in their own interests.
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.

4. 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.

5. European Alliances & Battlefronts, 1914-1917
Divine America Past and Present Revised 7th Ed.

6. 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.
To protect American investments overseas , President Wilson officially proclaimed the United States a neutral country on August 4, 1914.
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.
The Peace Movement
Other Americans, including women, former Populists, Midwest progressives, and social reformers, advocated peace.

7. The United States Declares War

8. 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.

9. 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.
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.

10. THE ROAD TO WAR neutrality submarine warfare Lusitania (May 1915)
Sussex Pledge (March 1916)
The Lusitania in New York City (Library of Congress) (Brinkley); Lusitania warning; Though New York newspapers carried warnings from the German embassy about the dangers of transatlantic travel, the passengers who boarded the Lusitania on May 1, 1915, probably did not imagine themselves in serious danger from submarine attack. The ship was sunk on May 7. Of the 1,959 passengers and crewmembers, 1,198 died, including 128 Americans. (Cobb Heritage Centre, England; photo by Larry O. Nighswander/NGS); Pageant 13e
Lusitania warning
(Cobb Heritage Centre, England; photo by Larry O. Nighswander/NGS)
The Lusitania in New York City (Library of Congress)

11. 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.
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.

12. Americans on the European Front

13. 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.
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.

14. 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.
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.

15. FIGHTING THE WAR Selective Service Act (1917) convoy system
American Expeditionary Force (AEF)
John J. Pershing
Pershing: Wadsworth; Troops leaving for camp, 1917 (Wadsworth)
Troops leaving for camp, 1917

16. U.S Role on the Western Front, 1918
Henretta, America’s History 4e from

17. 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.
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, 1918.

18. 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.
Although guns fell silent six hours later, many more deaths were to follow. The influenza epidemic of 1918 killed more people, both in the United States and Europe, than all of the wartime battles.

19. 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.
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.

20. Americans on the Home Front

21. The Most Famous Recruitment Poster

22. Uncle Sam—He the Man!

23. Don’t Mess with the U. S.

24. “Huns Kill Women and Children!”

25. The “Little Soldier”

26. Financing the War
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.
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. 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.
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.

27. Economy: FINANCING THE WAR
“Liberty Bonds”
Brinkley (Remember! Flag of Liberty)

28. Even Grandma Buys Liberty Bonds

29. Economy: Production “war boards” War Industries Board
Barnard Baruch
Railroad Administration
Food Administration – Herbert Hoover
National War Labor Board - W.H. Taft & Frank P. Walsh
WWI poster: "Sow the Seeds of Victory“; In 1918, this poster by James Montgomery Flagg appealed to American women to contribute to victory by conserving food through raising and preserving food for their families. The woman is shown sowing seeds (in the way that grain was planted before the development of agricultural machinery for that task), garbed in a dress made from an American flag, and wearing a red Liberty cap, a symbol that originated in the French Revolution. (Ohio Historical Society) [Pageant 13e]
(Ohio Historical Society)

30. U. S. Food Administration

31. U. S. Food Administration

32. U. S. Food Administration

33. National War Garden Commission

34. U. S. School Garden Army

35. U. S. Shipping Board

36. U. S. Fuel Administration

37. U. S. Fuel Administration

38. Life During Wartime
Fear of Foreigners:Fear of espionage, or spying, was widespread; restrictions on immigration were called for and achieved.
“Hate the Hun”: German music, literature, language, and cuisine became banned or unpopular.
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.
African Americans and Other Minorities: 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.

39. PUBLIC OPINION & CIVIL LIBERTIES
peace movement
Committee on Public Information
George Creel
Hun poster - This poster encouraged Americans to buy Liberty bonds (that is, loan money to the government) by emphasizing the image of the vicious and brutal Hun. This was part of a larger process of demonizing the people of the Central Powers that extended to condemning the music of Beethoven and the writings of Goethe. (Collection of Robert Cherny) Pageant 13e
“Destroy this Mad Brute” - Pojer
Committee for Public Information Poster, 1917

40. PUBLIC OPINION & CIVIL LIBERTIES
Espionage Act of 1917
Sedition Act 1918
Eugene V. Debs
Big Bill Haywood/IWW
Schenk v. U.S. (1919)
“clear and present danger”
American Protective League
“one hundred percent Americanism”
German-American community
“Liberty cabbage”
Wadsworth
IWW Members under arrest

41. “Remember Belgium”

42. The “Mad Brute”

43. Beat Back the “Hun”

44. The “Menace of the Seas”

45. True Sons of Freedom

46. For “Colored” Men in Service

47. YWCA – The Blue Triangle

48. Munitions Work

49. The Girls They Left Behind Do Their Bit!

50. Women Used In Recruitment
Hello, Big Boy!

51. The Red Cross - Greatest Mother in the World

52. The Red Cross Nurse

53. National League for Woman’s Service

54. Economy & Society: Women
Men’s occupations
19th Amendment
Lasting Consequences?
Midval Steel and Ordnance Co., Nicetown, PA
New Jobs for Women: Wadsworth.com; Description: Women workers in ordnance shops, Midval Steel and Ordnance Co., Nicetown, Pa. Hand chipping with pneumatic hammers Lt. Lubbe.; Credit: National Archives and Records Administration;
Woman workers on the Union Pacific Railroad, May 1918 (Wyoming State Museum)
Women workers in Puget Sound Navy Yard, 1919 – wadsworth.com
Woman workers on the Union Pacific Railroad, May 1918 (Wyoming State Museum) [Pageant 13e]
Puget Sound Navy Yard, 1919

55. Economy & Society: African-Americans
“Great Migration” – impact?
Divine America Past and Present Revised 7th Ed.; Pageant 13e
African American family just arrived in Chicago, 1912
(Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library)
African American Migration Northward,

56. Global Peacemaker

57. TREATY OF VERSAILLES 1. Wilson’s Vision
 Wilsonianism
Fourteen Points
WILSON’S FOURTEEN POINTS
From Martin, A People and a Nation 5e

58. 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.
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.

59. 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.
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.

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

61. TREATY OF VERSAILLES 2. Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World
Bolshevik
The Big Four
David Lloyd George
Georges Clemenceau
Vittorio Orlando
Reparations
League of Nations
“Trusteeship”
internationalism
Treaty of Versailles
WADSWORTH
Orlando, Lord George, Clemenceau, and Wilson in Wilson’s study in Paris

62. 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.

63. SOCIETY & ECONOMY IN THE POSTWAR YEARS Red Scare
Communist International
3rd International Goal (1919): promote worldwide communism
Red Scare
Palmer Raids (1920)
Pojer
Police arrest “suspected Reds” in Chicago, 1920
A. Mitchell Palmer’s Home bombed, 1920