NAME: __________________________________________________________________________________________PERIOD:____________

POWER:___________________________________________ GENERAL:____________________________________________________

WAR!! Throughout the next two weeks we will be discussing WWI. Each class will be divided into the CENTRAL POWERS and ALLIED POWERS. You and your group will work to uncover information about your specific POWER and discuss their involvement within WWI. We know within the actual war, the ALLIED POWERS won, however for this activity the quest for victory is up in the air. Both sides are to work along with the other classes in their POWER, and as in war different POWERS can win small battles, but to win the war, one POWER must design and draft up the best argument for the war and present their findings.

You will be given 4 full class days with your groups to gather your information (day1-computer, day2-computer, day3-computer, day4-classroom) and lay it all out accordingly, the four days will be organized in finding your information as followed:

Day 1- Causes of the War for your specific POWERS and countries involved, include (M.A.I.N.A-Militarisms, Alliances, Imperialism*Use specific information, and ensure you research EACH main county in your power, & Cite your sources* 1) What led each of the main countries in your power to react in war?2) Why did the countries of your power join alliances? 3) How was America effect by these countries entering into the war?

Day 2- During War, include KEY battles, Technology brought into war that was used, Trench warfare, Eastern and western fronts, lives of the people back home….exc….1) Describe your powers in the following battles, include result of the battle and how they either

won or what caused them to be defeated. Also include what front this battle occurred and between who.

2) Provide a picture and discuss your powers TRENCH LIFE & NEW TECHNOLOGIES 3) What was America’s reaction to the outbreak of war and how did the results of your power

impact America? Did they help you or hinder you?

Day 3- Results of the war1) What was the final result in either your power winning the war or surrendering? 2) Include the Final Treaty and what it meant for your power. 3) How did America’s involvement impact your power?

Day 4- Impact on the United States 1) What was the purpose of your power entering into war? (Their goal)2) Allies- What changed the war in your favor and how did it impact you?

Central- What changed the war, resulting in your defeat? How could you have avoided this? 3) Allies- As a result of winning the war

Central- Result of losing the war

By the end of this project each group should have the following:DAY 1-

Group work: Poster reflecting a list of what led each of your countries into WWI. Colored in MAP referencing the Powers they are working with Show how America was effected by these countries entering into the war

Individual Work On your Packet answer the questions for your own understanding, before compiling them onto your poster. Have documentation of your research for the group. (Websites, books, Textbook pages, exc.)

DAY 2- 4) Describe your powers in the following battles, include result of the battle and how they either won or what caused

them to be defeated. Also include what front this battle occurred and between who. 5) Provide a picture and discuss your powers TRENCH LIFE & NEW TECHNOLOGIES 6) What was America’s reaction to the outbreak of war and how did the results of your power impact America? Did

they help you or hinder you?

On a Poster Page: Describe the KEY battles listed for your group, location map of where they were located and the specific front they were on. If they lost, what happened? If they won, how did they accomplish it?List/Describe/provide visual if possible on the new technology that was used by your power in battles.Describe/provide a visual of the trenches for your powers

How did America effect your powers through the following: nationalism, propaganda, helping with war trade, finances (victory and liberty bonds), changing of workers to women and men off to war, and the great migration.

The economy for the Powers at home, look at each of the major countries involved in your power.

Individual Work Provide handwritten Notes and documentation of your research. MIN of 5 things to add to your group.

DAY 3- Group Work

Write out on the poster paper the Key points of the Treaty of Versailles, which was the peace treaty to end the war.On that poster in a different color underline in BLUE the things that benefited your POWEROn that poster in a different color circle in RED the things that hurt your power or were not fair.

On a different poster paper title the page “The War’s Impact” and bullet point at least 3 different issues that came up in one of the counties of your POWER after the war and their lasting impact on their own country and one on the opposite side. EX: Red Scare or Racial Unrest

How did America’s involvement impact your powers?

Individual Work Describe either what aided your POWER to win the war OR what could have changed for them to win the war,

knowing what we know now.

DAY 4- Group Work

Ensure ALL parts are clearly presented on your poster’s from Days1-3 Ensure ALL parts of your individual work are clearly written in this packet. On a separate sheet of paper answer the question- What happened for you to either SUCCEED the war or be

DEFEATED in the war. *Be ready to read this in your presentation

Individual Work Write out one page in how America was effected in WWI through the eyes of either the Central

powers or the Allied powers.

BELOW IS THE PACKET FOR THE PROJECT, WHICH INCLUDES BOTH INDIVIDUAL WORK AND GROUP WORK THAT WILL DETERMIN YOUR GRADE

POWER:______________________________________________________________________

Countries Involved in that power: __________________________________________

_________________________________________

__________________________________________

_________________________________________

DAY 1: Individual Work

1) What led each of the main countries in your power to react in war?

2) Why did the countries of your power join alliances?

3) How was America effect by these countries entering into the war?

INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH NOTES DAY 1 (sources):

DAY 2 Individual Work:

RESEARCH NOTES DAY 2 (SOURCES):

Individual Work DAY 3-

1) Describe either what aided your POWER to win the war OR what could have changed for them to win the war, knowing what we know now.

NOTES FROM RESEARCH DAY 3 (Sources):

INDIVIDUAL WORK DAY 4-

1) Write out one page in how America was effected in WWI through the eyes of either the Central powers or the Allied powers.

NOTES FOR RESEARCH DAY 4 (Sources) :

**ORGANIZE YOUR PRESENTATION:

-When each person will speak? -Is all the information asked presented on either poster board, or through a paragraph that will be read? -Do I clearly show how my power proved stronger in the victory? –Or Do I present our downfalls and how we could have avoided losing? –Do I clearly show how America’s involvement impacted my power?

-Do I know what the pictures on my board represent, and is the map shown and colored?

CAUSES-

Alliances

An alliance is an agreement made between two or more countries to give each other help if it is needed. When an alliance is signed, those countries become known as Allies. A number of alliances had been signed by countries between the years 1879 and 1914. These were important because they meant that some countries had no option but to declare war if one of their allies. declared war first. (the table below reads clockwise from the top left picture)

1879The Dual Alliance

Germany and Austria-Hungary made an alliance to protect themselves from

Russia

1881Austro-Serbian Alliance

Austria-Hungary made an alliance with Serbia to stop Russia gaining control of

Serbia

1882The Triple Alliance

 Germany and Austria- Hungary made an alliance with Italy to stop Italy from

taking sides with Russia

1914Triple Entente (no separate peace)

Britain, Russia and France agreed not to sign for peace separately.

1894Franco-Russian Alliance

 Russia formed an alliance with France to protect herself against Germany and

Austria-Hungary

1907Triple Entente

 This was made between Russia, France and Britain to counter the increasing

threat from Germany.

1907Anglo-Russian Entente

This was an agreement between Britain and Russia

1904Entente Cordiale

This was an agreement, but not a formal alliance, between France and Britain.

 Imperialism

 Imperialism is when a country takes over new lands or countries and makes them subject to their rule. By 1900 the British Empire extended over five continents and France had control of large areas of Africa. With the rise of industrialism countries needed new markets. The amount of lands 'owned' by Britain and France increased the rivalry with Germany who had entered the scramble to acquire colonies late and only had small areas of Africa. Note the contrast in the map below.

Militarism

Militarism means that the army and military forces are given a high profile by the government. The growing European divide had led to an arms race between the main countries. The armies of both France and Germany had more than doubled between 1870 and 1914 and there was fierce competition between Britain and Germany for mastery of the seas. The British had introduced the 'Dreadnought', an effective battleship, in 1906. The Germans soon followed suit introducing their own battleships. The German, Von Schlieffen also drew up a plan of action that involved attacking France through Belgium if Russia made an attack on Germany. The map below shows how the

plan was to work

 

Nationalism

 Nationalism means being a strong supporter of the rights and interests of one's country. The Congress of Vienna, held after Napoleon's exile to Elba, aimed to sort out problems in Europe. Delegates from Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia (the winning allies) decided upon a new Europe that left both Germany and Italy as divided states. Strong nationalist elements led to the re-unification of Italy in 1861 and Germany in 1871. The settlement at the end of the Franco-Prussian war left France angry at the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany and keen to regain their lost territory. Large areas of both Austria-Hungary and Serbia were home to differing nationalist groups, all of whom wanted freedom from the states in which they lived.

MAP of the POWERS

WWI FACTS-World War I Begins (1914)Though tensions had been brewing in Europe--and especially in the troubled Balkan region--for years before conflict actually broke out, the spark that ignited World War I was struck in Sarajevo, Bosnia, where Archduke Franz Ferdinand, nephew of Emperor Franz Josef and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was shot to death along with his wife by the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie set off a rapid chain of events: Austria-Hungary, like many in countries around the world, blamed the Serbian government for the attack and hoped to use the incident as justification for settling the question of Slavic nationalism once and for all. As Russia supported Serbia, Austria-Hungary waited to declare war until its leaders received assurances from German leader Kaiser Wilhelm II that Germany would support their cause in the event of a Russian intervention, which would likely involve Russia's ally, France, and possibly Great Britain as well. On July 5, Kaiser Wilhelm secretly pledged his support, giving Austria-Hungary a so-called carte blanche or "blank check" assurance of Germany's backing in the case of war. The Dual Monarchy then sent an ultimatum to Serbia, with such harsh terms as to make it almost impossible to accept. Convinced that Vienna was readying for war, the Serbian government ordered the Serbian army to mobilize, and appealed to Russia for assistance. On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the tenuous peace between Europe's great powers collapsed. Within a week, Russia, Belgium, France, Great Britain and Serbia had lined up against Austria-Hungary and Germany, and World War I had begun.

World War I's Western Front (1914-17)According to an aggressive military strategy known as the Schlieffen Plan (named for its mastermind, German Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen), Germany began fighting World War I on two fronts, invading France through neutral Belgium in the west and confronting mighty Russia in the east. On August 4, 1914, German troops under Erich Ludendorff crossed the border into Belgium, in violation of that country's neutrality. In the first battle of World War I, the Germans assaulted the heavily fortified city of Liege, using the most powerful weapons in their arsenal--enormous siege cannons--to capture the city by August 15. Leaving death and destruction in their wake, including the shooting of civilians and the deliberate execution of Belgian priest, whom they accused of inciting civilian resistance, the Germans advanced through Belgium towards France. In the First Battle of the Marne, fought from September 6-9, 1914, French and British forces confronted the invading Germany army, which had by then penetrated deep into northeastern France, within 30 miles of Paris. Under the French commander Joseph Joffre, the Allied troops checked the German advance and mounted a successful counterattack, driving the Germans back to north of the Aisne River. The defeat meant the end of German plans for a quick victory in France. Both sides dug into trenches, and began the bloody war of attrition that would characterize the next three years on World War I’s Western Front. Particularly long and costly battles in this campaign were fought at Verdun (February-December 1916) and the Somme (July-November 1916); German and French troops suffered close to a million casualties in the Battle of Verdun alone.

World War I's Eastern Front and Revolution in Russia (1914-17)On the Eastern Front of World War I, Russian forces invaded East Prussia and German Poland, but were stopped short by German and Austrian forces at the Battle of Tannenberg in late August 1914. Despite that victory, the Red Army assault had forced Germany to move two corps from the Western Front to the Eastern, contributing to the German loss in the Battle of the Marne. Combined with the fierce Allied resistance in France, the ability of Russia's huge war machine to mobilize relatively quickly in the east ensured a longer, more grueling conflict instead of the quick victory Germany had hoped to win with the Schlieffen Plan. Over the next two years, the Russian army mounted several

offensives on the Eastern Front but were unable to break through German lines. Defeat on the battlefield fed the growing discontent among the bulk of Russia's population, especially the poverty-stricken workers and peasants, and its hostility towards the imperial regime. This discontent culminated in the Russian Revolution of 1917, spearheaded by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks. One of Lenin's first actions as leader was to call a halt to Russian participation in World War I. Russia reached an armistice with the Central Powers in early December 1917, freeing German troops to face the other Allies on the Western Front.  allipoli Campaign (1915-16) and Battles of the Isonzo (1915-17)With World War I having effectively settled into a stalemate in Europe, the Allies attempted to score a victory against the Ottoman Empire, which had entered the conflict on the side of the Central Powers in late 1914. After a failed attack on the Dardanelles (the strait linking the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean Sea), Allied forces led by Britain launched a large-scale land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula in April 1915. The invasion also proved a dismal failure, and in January 1916 Allied forces were forced to stage a full retreat from the shores of the peninsula, after suffering 250,000 casualties. British-led forces also combated the Turks in Egypt and Mesopotamia, while in northern Italy Austrian and Italian troops faced off in a series of 12 battles along the Isonzo River, located at the border between the two nations. The First Battle of the Isonzo took place in the late spring of 1915, soon after Italy's entrance into the war on the Allied side; in the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, or the Battle of Caporetto (October 1917), German reinforcements helped Austria-Hungary win a decisive victory. After Caporetto, Italy's allies jumped in to offer increased assistance. British and French--and later American--troops arrived in the region, and the Allies began to take back the initiative on the Italian Front.

World War I at Sea (1914-17)After the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915, the German navy chose not to confront Britain's mighty Royal Navy in a major battle for more than a year, preferring to rest the bulk of its strategy at sea on its lethal U-boat submarines. The biggest naval engagement of World War I, the Battle of Jutland (May 1916) left British naval superiority on the North Sea intact, and Germany would make no further attempts to break the Allied naval blockade for the remainder of the war. It was Germany's policy of unchecked submarine aggression against shipping interests headed to Great Britain that helped bring the United States into World War I in 1917. Widespread protest over the sinking by U-boat of the British ocean liner Lusitania in May 1915 helped turn the tide of American public opinion steadfastly against Germany, and in February 1917 Congress passed a $250 million arms appropriations bill intended to make the United States ready for war. Germany sunk four more U.S. merchant ships the following month and on April 2 President Woodrow Wilson appeared before Congress and called for a declaration of war against Germany.

Toward an Armistice (1917-18)With Germany able to build up its strength on the Western Front after the armistice with Russia, Allied troops struggled to hold off another German offensive until promised reinforcements from the United States were able to arrive. On July 15, 1918, German troops under Erich von Ludendorff launched what would become the last German offensive of the war, attacking French forces (joined by 85,000 American troops as well as some of the British Expeditionary Force) in the Second Battle of the Marne. Thanks in part to the strategic leadership of the French commander-in-chief, Philippe Petain, the Allies put back the German offensive, and launched their own counteroffensive just three days later. After suffering massive casualties, Ludendorff was forced to call off a planned German offensive further north, in the Flanders region stretching between France and Belgium, which he had envisioned as Germany's best hope of victory. The Second Battle of the Marne turned the tide of war decisively towards the Allies, who were able to regain much of France and Belgium in the months that followed. By the fall of 1918, the Central Powers were unraveling on all fronts. Despite the Turkish victory at Gallipoli, later defeats by invading forces and an Arab revolt had combined to destroy the

Ottoman economy and devastate its land, and the Turks signed a treaty with the Allies in late October 1918. Austria-Hungary, dissolving from within due to growing nationalist movements among its diverse population, reached an armistice on November 4. Facing dwindling resources on the battlefield, discontent on the home front and the surrender of its allies, Germany was finally forced to seek an armistice on November 11, 1918, ending World War I. 

World War I's LegacyWorld War I took the life of more than 9 million soldiers; 21 million more were wounded. Civilian casualties caused indirectly by the war numbered close to 10 million. The two nations most affected were Germany and France, each of which sent some 80 percent of their male populations between the ages of 15 and 49 into battle. The war also marked the fall of four imperial dynasties--Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia and Turkey. At the peace conference in Paris in 1919, Allied leaders would state their desire to build a post-war world that would safeguard itself against future conflicts of such devastating scale. The Versailles Treaty, signed on June 28, 1919, would not achieve this objective. Saddled with war guilt and heavy reparations and denied entrance into the League of Nations, Germany felt tricked into signing the treaty, having believed any peace would be a "peace without victory" as put forward by Wilson in his famous Fourteen Points speech of January 1918. As the years passed, hatred of the Versailles treaty and its authors settled into a smoldering resentment in Germany that would, two decades later, be counted among the causes of World War II.

The Trench SystemAfter the Battle of the Marne in September, 1914, the Germans were forced to retreat to the River Aisne. The German commander, General Erich von Falkenhayn, decided that his troops must at all costs hold onto those parts of France and Belgium that Germany still occupied. Falkenhayn ordered his men to dig trenches that would provide them with protection from the advancing French and British troops. The Allies soon realised that they could not break through this line and they also began to dig trenches.After a few months these trenches had spread from the North Sea to the Swiss Frontier. As the Germans were the first to decide where to stand fast and dig, they had been able to choose the best places to build their trenches. The possession of the higher ground not only gave the Germans a tactical advantage, but it forced the British and French to live in the worst conditions. Most of this area was rarely a few feet above sea level. As soon as soldiers began to dig down they would invariably find water two or three

get below the surface. Water-logged trenches were a constant problem for olders on the Western Front.

Frontline trenches were usually about seven feet deep and six feet wide. The front of the trench was known as the parapet. The top two or three feet of the parapet and the parados (the rear side of the trench) would consist of a thick line of sandbags to absorb any bullets or shell fragments.In a trench of this depth it was impossible to see over the top, so a two or three-foot ledge known as a fire-step, was added. Trenches were not dug in straight lines. Otherwise, if the enemy had a successive offensive, and got into your trenches, they could shoot straight along the line. Each trench was dug with alternate fire-bays and traverses.Duck-boards were also placed at the bottom of the trenches to protect soldiers from problems such as trench foot. Soldiers also made dugouts and funk holes in the side of the trenches to give them some protection from the weather and enemy fire.The front-line trenches were also protected by barbed-wire entanglements and machine-gun posts. Short trenches called saps were dug from the front-trench into No-Man's Land. The sap-head, usually about 30 yards forward of the front-line, were then used as listening posts.Behind the front-line trenches were support and reserve trenches. The three rows of trenches covered between 200 and 500 yards of ground. Communication trenches, were dug at an angle to the frontline trench and was used to transport men, equipment and food supplies.

Timeline of World War One 

1914    

  June 28th Francis Ferdinand assassinated at Sarajevo

  July 5th Kaiser William II promised German support for

Austria against Serbia

  July 28th Austria declared war on Serbia

  August 1st Germany declared war on Russia

  August 3rd Germany declared war on France and invaded Belgium. Germany had to implement the Schlieffen Plan.

  August 4th Britain declared war on Germany

  August 23rd The BEF started its retreat from Mons. Germany invaded France.

  August 26th Russian army defeated at Tannenburg and Masurian Lakes.

  September 6th Battle of the Marne started

  October 18th First Battle of Ypres

  October 29th Turkey entered the war on Germany’s side. Trench warfare started to dominate the Western Front.

     

1915    

  January 19th The first Zeppelin raid on Britain took place

  February 19th Britain bombarded Turkish forts in the Dardanelles

  April 25th Allied troops landed in Gallipoli

  May 7th The “Lusitania” was sunk by a German U-boat

  May 23rd Italy declared war on Germany and Austria

  August 5th The Germans captured Warsaw from the Russians

  September 25th  Start of the Battle of Loos  December 19th The Allies started the evacuation of Gallipoli

     

1916    

  January 27th Conscription introduced in Britain

  February 21st Start of the Battle of Verdun

  April 29th British forces surrendered to Turkish forces at Kut in Mesopotamia

  May 31st Battle of Jutland

  June 4th Start of the Brusilov Offensive  July 1st Start of the Battle of the Somme

  August 10th End of the Brusilov Offensive  September 15th First use en masse of tanks at the Somme

  December 7th Lloyd George becomes British Prime Minister

     

1917    

  February 1st Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare campaign started

  April 6th USA declared war on Germany

  April 16th France launched an unsuccessful offensive on the Western Front

  July 31st Start of the Third Battle at Ypres

  October 24th Battle of Caporetto – the Italian Army was heavily defeated

  November 6th Britain launched a major offensive on the Western Front

  November 20th British tanks won a victory at Cambrai

  December 5th Armistice between Germany and Russia signed

  December 9th Britain captured Jerusalem from the Turks

     

1918    

  March 3rd The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed between Russia and Germany.

  March 21st Germany broke through on the Somme

  March 29th Marshall Foch was appointed Allied Commander on the Western Front

  April 9th Germany started an offensive in Flanders

  July 15th Second Battle of the Marne started. The start of the collapse of the German army

  August 8th The advance of the Allies was successful

  September 19th Turkish forces collapsed at Megiddo

  October 4th Germany asked the Allies for an armistice

  October 29th Germany’s navy mutinied

  October 30th Turkey made peace

  November 3rd Austria made peace

  November 9th Kaiser William II abdicated

  November  11th Germany signed an armistice with the Allies – the official date of the end of World War One.

     

  Post-war – 1919  

     

  January 4th Peace conference met at Paris

  June 21st The surrendered German naval fleet at Scapa Flow was scuttled.

  June 28th The Treaty of Versailles was signed by the Germans.

EFFECTS OF WWI-"Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived." - Abraham Lincoln

The century following Lincoln’s assassination proved the truth of his words. The effects of World War I were a harsh reality check for Europe and other major nations of the world.

Decline of the Empires

The political changes effected by World War I were reflected best in the decline of the empires. While the Ottoman Empire and Austria-

Hungary completely collapsed, the Great War also sounded the death knell for monarchies in Germany and Russia, which became republics. World War I was also the cause for a rise in nationalistic tendencies leading to the demand for independence in many British colonies of outside Europe.

Changing Economies and Societies

The economic strain caused by World War I resounded through Europe and the rest of the world. Inflation skyrocketed in many countries. The burden of reparations drastically affected the German economy. The value of the deutsche mark dipped to an all-time low. European nations owed their allies over $10 billion in the postwar years.Much changed on the social front too. With the men having joined the war, the women of most countries took over businesses and establishments. Mechanization and mass production paved the way for labor laws. The disillusionment caused by war led to a revolution in many societies. People chose republics over monarchies and the desire for better standards of living were openly vented.

Need for the League of Nations

“A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.” - President Woodrow WilsonWorld War I exposed the need for an association of nations – a body to promote international peace and security. The necessity of an organization to prevent a global conflict of the nature of World War I was initially pointed out by President Woodrow Wilson in his Congressional Speech in 1918. The emergence of the League of Nations was a natural corollary to the catastrophic consequences of the Great War.On June 25, 1919, the plan to create the League of Nations was sanctioned at the Paris Peace Conference. The initial council meeting of the League of Nations was held in Paris on January 16, 1920. The League of Nations headquarters was moved to Geneva in November 1920. The League's inaugural General Assembly was attended by forty-one nations on November 15, 1920.Despite being the brainchild of President Woodrow Wilson, the United States did not join the League of Nations, as it was not ratified by the U.S. Congress.

Technological Growth

The one distinct positive outcome of World War I was the boost received by research and technology. Rail and automobile transport, radio and wireless communications, research and development of weapons and arms, including nuclear research, boomed. The years following World War I saw unprecedented armament and chemical research. The atomic bombs used in World War II were developed in the period following the Great War. Aviation technology, quite literally, took off. Machines of mass production, developed during the war, revolutionized industries in the postwar years.

Did World War I cause World War II?

"This is not peace. It is an armistice for 20 years." - Ferdinand Foch, Maréchal de FranceAs Foch rightly remarked, the Treaty of Versailles was the cause of much dissent in Europe. While Germany had based the armistice on President Wilson’s Fourteen Points, the Treaty of Versailles had none of the idealism he had envisioned. The harsh terms of the treaty placed all responsibility of the Great War on Germany. The financial reparations paid by the Central Powers caused much resentment. Although, World War I was by no means the only reason for the outbreak of World War II, the settlement of territories, responsibility, and finances only led to more strife which eventually translated into World War II.

MUST READ!!!The Impact of World War I on the United States

Generalization

Wars change things, and big wars change things a lot.  World War I changed America, or at least hastened the pace of change.  Some of these changes might have been good, but there was a sinister side to some of what was going on as well.

[In class I spend quite a bit of time discussing the origins of  WW I in Europe.  You do not need to talk about this on the exam.  Concentrate instead on the way American involvement in WWI directly or indirectly changed things like American foreign policy, American politics, social relationships, etc.]

Over there after all....

Now, what did all this have to do with the United States?  Nothing at all, some

would have heoped.  George Washington had warned the US against becoming entangled in European wars, and for 150 years the US had followed Washington’s advice.  Wilson and his Secretary of State Bryan were committed to this “non-entanglement” tradition, trying to keep us from getting involved.

But it wasn’t easy.  As the war raged in Europe, tremendous trade opportunities were available to American businesses, and American businessmen took advantage of this.

Germany had resorted to U-boat warfare to try to block supplies from getting to Britain.  They warned us that anyone sailing on a British ship was subject to attack, but Americans continued to travel on British ships anyway.

In 1915, the Germans sunk the Lusitania, killing 1,198 people including 128 Americans.  This didn’t play well with the American public.  On top of that, the British-controlled transatlantic cable was transmitting information designed to make us sympathize with their side and be outraged by German atrocities.

Still, Wilson held the line, and, when he ran for reelection in 1916, he made that a key point in his campaign.  His Republican opponent Charles Evans Hughes (called Charles Evasive Hughes by his detractors) didn’t make clear where he stood on US entry into the war.  The Wilson campaign, however, made much of Wilson’s success in avoiding American involvement.  “He kept us out of war” was a featured slogan.  One campaign ad: “You are working, not fighting; alive and happy, not cannon fodder; Wilson and peace with honor, or Hughes with Roosevelt and war?”

Well, Wilson won reelection, but in a close vote: 277 to 254 in the electoral college.  The American people had chosen Wilson, at least partly on the implied promise we were *not* going to enter the war.

But there were soon problems with this policy.  The papers played up the Zimmerman Note, an intercepted German message to Mexico that said that, in the event of American entry into the war, Mexico should attack the United States.  At the end of the war, the Germans would repay them by getting back for them Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

On top of that, the Germans were sinking American ships taking supplies to Britain.  Anti-German sentiment increased, and Wilson decided we had to go to war.  

The American war effort as "progressive" reform

But if he was going to break his implied campaign promise, Wilson better give the American people good reasons for doing so.  He did.

1.  This would be a “war to end all wars.”2.  This would be a war to “make the world safe for democracy.”

Good goals—but more than goals.  Wilson was determined that the war would be a “progressive” war, one that did in fact lead to a more peaceful world and that did in fact lead to free and democratic societies.

Wilson suggested a way of settling the war that might have done just that, his “Fourteen Points,” Wilson’s plan for resolving European (and world-wide) problems after the fighting was done.

Wilson’s points included:

1.  Open covenants (no secret diplomacy)2.  Freedom of the seas3.  The removal of economic barriers4.  The reduction of national armaments “to the lowest point consistent with safety”5.  The impartial adjustment of colonial claims6.  The evacuation of Russia by foreign armies7.  Belgian independence8.  The Alsace-Lorraine area restored to France9.  Adjustment of the Italian frontier10.  Autonomy for the peoples of Austria-Hungary11.  The restoration of Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro12.   Autonomy for Turkey13.  An independent Poland14.  The creation of a League of Nations

Now these ideas reflect a pretty solid understanding of the causes of WWI and a pretty sound recipe for an amicable peace.  American entry into the war *did* turn the tables in Europe leading to the defeat of Germany, and our contributions *should* have meant that we would have an important voice in how the war was actually settled, *especially* since the Germans surrendered under the belief they

would be treated in accord with the generous terms promised by Wilson.

But what actually happened is that, after the war was over, the British, and even more the French, insisted on much harsher terms for Germany—and Wilson gave in.  Why?  He sacrificed most of his goals to achieve the one goal he thought most important, the creation of the League of Nations. The Versailles Treaty that actually ended the war (June 28, 1919) stripped Germany of the Saar Basin and the Danzig region, reduced the German army to 100,000 men, forbid German fortifications on their border with France—and imposed on German an indemnity of more than $30 billion to pay for the war.  But Wilson had got his League of Nations—sort of.  And World War I was a victory overall for the good guys—sort of.

Impact of WWI on America and on the progressive movement

Unfortunately, American involvement in WWI had some worrisome indirect effects on the country.  Wilson had warned that if Americans went to war they would “forget the very meaning of the word tolerance,” and intolerance did increase as a result of our involvement in WWI.

During the war, it seemed necessary to stir up anti-German sentiment to induce men to volunteer or to accept the draft, and to induce Americans in general to make the sacrifices necessary for the war effort.  The job of stirring up anti-German sentiment fell to George Creel and his Committee of Public Information.

Creel’s group printed all sorts of anti-German posters.  One featured an ape-like German carrying of a helpless young lady.  The caption?  Destroy this made brute.  Another showed a German dragging off a girl by the hair.  The caption? Remember Belgium.

Very, very effective.  Men hate rapists—and the thought of innocent young girls being raped by German soldiers made American men angry enough to want to fight.

Hollywood jumped on the anti-German bandwagon, producing movies like, “The Kaiser,” “To Hell with the Kaiser,” and “The Beast of Berlin.”

It worked!  Americans hated Germans—hated them enough to want to kill them.  And that (of course) is what war is all about.  But there was a problem.

What about the Germans among us?  If Germans are so awful, shouldn’t we hate

them too?  Americans burned German books, forced and end to German-language church services, banned the playing of German music.  “German” was a dirty word.  German measles were renamed…and no one was allowed to study German in college.  And, if you were German yourself, you better prove your loyalty to the US by buying liberty bonds—bonds whose revenues could be used to destroy those nasty countrymen of yours.

Not just the Germans became the subject of hate campaigns. Anti-black sentiment had been increasing even before the war.  D.W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation” fed into a resurgence of the Klu Klux Klan.  By 1925, there were 5 million Klan members!  KKK= “Kill the Kikes the Koons and the Katholics” said some.  Anti-Jewish, Anti-Catholic, Anti-black sentiment all increased with Klan growth.

Likewise, the country became intolerant of foreigners.  Anti-immigration laws slowed immigration to a trickle of what it had been.  

Feeding both anti-black and anti-immigrant sentiment was the growth of the eugenics movement. Darwinian ideas on “natural” selection led to an increased desire to improve the American genetic heritage through artificial means.  Forced sterilization and anti miscegenation laws (precursors of the policies the Nazis would adopt in Germany) were drawn up in many states—laws that, in some cases, stayed on the books until the 1960’s. 

[The Wikipedia article on eugenics is really a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the dark side of the progressive movement. Teddy Roosevelt, Luther Burbank, Alexander Graham Bell, Margaret Sanger, and many other prominent Americans bought into a movement that for a time pushed us well down the road that Nazi Germany would take to its logical and horrible conclusion.]

World War I also increased other types of intolerance.  Socialist leader Eugene Debs was thrown into prison for conspiracy: he had spoken against the constitutionality of the draft.  Duly elected New York lawmakers were excluded from holding office by their colleagues on the charge that they were socialists.

World War I led also to a changed status for women.  The 19th Amendment (adopted in 1920) guaranteed women the right to vote.  Wilson had championed it as “a necessary war measure.”  But it seems to me that the real reason men dropped their opposition to the 19th Amendment was the 18th Amendment.

Men had opposed women’s suffrage in part because they were afraid women would make prohibition their number one priority.  In 1920, men were no longer afraid giving the women the right to vote would lead to prohibition.  Why?  Because, by then, we already had prohibition!

The 18th Amendment authorized Congress to ban the sale and transport of intoxicating beverages.  Why adopted? Well, American servicemen had not been allowed to drink in WWI.  They had been more effective than any other soldiers.  It looked, then, that WWI was proof positive that getting rid of booze was a good idea.  The national experiment with Prohibition, then, was another consequence of WWI.

But despite the fact that World War I had led to some changes progressive wanted, WWI really ended up killing the progressive movement.  In 1920, Wilson decided that the Democrats should make the election a “solemn referendum” on the League of Nations.  Up to this point, Republicans in the Senate had blocked US entry.  Wilson said: ok, let’s show them at the polls.  Although Wilson himself was not on the ballot anywhere, he did succeed in making the American people think that the big issue in both the presidential and congressional contests was American commitment to the League of Nations.  Result?  The American people said no to the league—electing a conservative Republican, Warren G. Harding rather than the progressive Democratic nominee, Cox.  It wasn’t even close—Harding won by the largest margin of any candidate in American history.  Progressivism was dead—at least for the moment.