Causes of World War I and U.S.

Involvement in the Great War

Why does war begin in Europe?

European rivalries over:

• trade, colonies, military power

Alliance System• Triple Alliance • Triple Entente

Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand (6/26/14)

Goals of U.S. Foreign PolicyProtect National SecurityAvoid Foreign EntanglementsEncourage International TradeMoral Diplomacy of Woodrow Wilson

“The U.S. must be neutral in fact as well as in

name . . . We must be impartial in thought as well as in action.” The European war was one “with which we have nothing to do, whose

causes cannot touch us.”

-Wilson’s message to the Senate (8/19/1914)

Is the U.S. neutral from the beginning?

Sympathy with both sides AlliesCentral Powers

U.S. needs British for economic reasonsU.S. neutrality becomes only a slogan (by 1915)

Why does the U.S. get involved?

Unrestricted submarine warfare

Sinking of the Lusitania

Zimmerman Telegram

U.S. Exports to Countries at War 1914 - 1916

BRITAIN

1914 $600 million

1915 $900 million

1916 $1.5 billion

1916*257%

*1916 figure as percentage of 1914 figure

GERMANY

1914 $350 million

1915 $29 million

1916 $300,000

1916*0.08%

*1916 figure as percentage of 1914 figure

“The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion.

We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make.”

-Wilson (4/2/17)

Mobilizing for WarLiberty Bonds and Taxes raised $ for warWar Industries Board oversaw production

Decided production, fixed pricesNational War Labor Board

Worked to settle disputes that might disrupt production

Rationing“Food will win the war”

Daylight Saving TimeTurning clocks ahead one hour for the summer

to lower fuel consumption, shifted 1hr of daylight to night

U.S. Declares War on April 6, 1917

•Gen. John “Black Jack’ Pershing•American Expeditionary Forces

U.S. and WWI Timeline

July-August 1914 – War begins in EuropeMay 1915 – Lusitania torpedoedJanuary 1917 – Zimmerman Note

April 1917 - U.S. declared war on GermanyMay 1917 - Selective Service Act, ConvoysJune 1917 - AEF arrived in France

November 1918 - Armistice signedJune 1919 – Treaty of Versailles

A Lost Generation

Total Dead: 8.5 million soldiersTotal Wounded: 21 million

Russia: 1.7 million soldiers killedFrance: 1.4 millionGreat Britain: 900,000Germany: 1.8 millionAustria-Hungary: 1.2 million

United States50,000 died in battle, 126,000 total

1918 Influenza Pandemic (Spanish Flu)Killed more people worldwide than War itselfAmerican troops brought it to France in 1918 Affected Healthy Young Adults1/3 of world population infected50-100 million (CDC) died