world war one america ascendant. long-term causes 1. imperialism a. competition amongst european...
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World War One
America Ascendant
Long-term causes
1. Imperialism A. competition
amongst European nations for resources, labor, markets
2. Nationalism
Pan-Slavism Pan-Germanism Revanche (Franco-Prussian war)
3. Militarism: Naval race between Britain & Germany
H.M.S. Dreadnought
German U boats
Comparative Military Build Up: 1870-1914
Russia 700,000 - 1,300,000 France 380,000 - 846,000 Germany 403,000 - 812,000 Austria-Hungary 247,000 - 424,000 Britain 302,000 - 381,000 Japan 70,000 - 250,000 U.S.A. 37,000 - 98,003 Britain and Germany spent most per capita: Germany $8.52 Britain $8.53 U.S.A. $0.32
4. Entangling Alliances
Immediate Cause: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
The Balkans: powder keg of Europe
Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary June 28, 1914
Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip (Black Hand)
Austria Hungary declares war on Serbia
Germany declares war on Russia & France
Germany invades Belgium
Britain enters war
The Western Front
www.bbc.co.uk/history/games/ western_front/index.shtml www.bbc.co.uk/history/games/ western_front/index.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/games/western_front/index.shtml
Mass Destruction: Stalemate on the Western Front
Hiram Maxim
British Recruiting/Propaganda
U.S. stance: Official Neutrality
Sec. of State Bryan: strict neutrality
Col. Edward House
Pres. Wilson
Walter Hines Page
U.S. Ambassador UK
Secretary of State W.J.Bryan’s objections to loans to belligerents
First: Money is the worst of all contrabands because it commands everything else.
Second: If we approved of a loan to France we could not, of course, object to a loan to Great Britain, Germany, Russia, or to any other country, and if loans were made to these countries, our citizens would be divided into groups, each group loaning money to the country which it favors
Third: The powerful financial interests which would be connected with these loans would be tempted to use their influence through the newspapers to support the interests of the Government to which they had loaned because the value of the security would be directly affected by the result of the war.
British Blockade of Germany – Nov. 1914
Attempt to starve Germany
British mine North Sea
Extension of definition of contraband
Britain invades German colonies in East Africa
Germany Retaliates
German fleet inferior to British
Germany uses submarine warfare
1915 Zone of warfare around Britain –sink all merchant vessels
Attempt to starve Britain
Unterseebooten – U boats
Germans torpedo passenger ships
Lusitania – British ship 4,200 cases of
Remington rifle cartridges Fuses, empty shrapnel
shells Britain compromised non-
belligerent status of ships Britain starts to use
convoys
U.S. economic interests: Result of Blockade
a. U.S. trade with Germany and Austria (1914: $169 Million; 1916: $1 Million)
b. U.S. trade with England and Allies (1914: $825 Million; 1916: $3,214 Million)
c. U.S. bank loans to England and Allies (March 1915 - April 1917: $2 Billion plus)
Zimmermann Telegram 1917
“make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.”
America gets into the act
Selective Service 1917
Less than 100,000 volunteer in first weeks – 1 million needed
Supervised decentralization
Local draft boards 24 million men registered
23% pop 4.8 million serve
African American soldiers
War Industries Board 1915: The first military-industrial complex
The challenge of mobilizing in an era of rapid industrialization
Politics Military Economic interests Industrial
preparedness
Homefront: Food Administration
a. Assure the supply, distribution, and conservation of food during the war,
b. Facilitate transportation of food and prevent monopolies and hoarding, and
c. Maintain governmental power over foods by using voluntary agreements and a licensing system.
Herbert Hoover
"We are glad ... to fight thus for the ultimate peace of the world and for the liberation of its peoples, the German peoples included. . . The world must be made safe for democracy. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind....--W. Wilson Message to Congress April 2, 1917.
"We are about to do the bidding of wealth's terrible mandate. By our act we will make millions of our countrymen suffer, and the consequences of it may well be that millions of our brethren must shed their life-blood, millions of broken-hearted women must weep, millions of children must suffer with cold, and millions of babes must die from hunger and all because we want to preserve the commercial right of American citizens to deliver munitions of war to belligerent nations."--George Norris (Progressive) Republican Senator from Nebraska. Speech in the U.S. Senate, April 4, 1917.
Paying for the war
Increased corporate taxes Increased taxes on wealthy (income tax in existence since 1913)
Summarize U.S. entry into war
Germany’s use of unrestricted submarine warfare
Zimmerman telegram Cultural ties to Britain Loans to Allies Propaganda
The Espionage Act & Alien enemies
$10,000 fine, 20 years imprisonment for interfering with recruitment
Could not own firearms, aircraft, wireless
Could not publish an “attack” on U.S. govt.
Could not leave without permission
14 years & older German nationality
Free Speech: Casualty of war - Charles Schenck
Distributed materials to draftees urging them to oppose the war (compared the draft to slavery)
Prosecuted under the 1917 Espionage Act
“Clear & Present Danger” 6 months jail time
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Another casualty of war: Eugene Debs
Anti-war speeches Criticized the Espionage
Act Sentenced to 10 years jail Ran for presidency 1920
from jail (915,000 votes) Pardoned by Harding in
‘21
The Big Four
Lloyd George
Orlando
Clemenceau
Wilson
Wilson’s 14 points: Idealistic postwar world
No secret treaties Freedom of the seas Free trade Self-determination for
all countries Return to pre-war
borders League of Nations
The realities of Europe
France wanted to punish Germany
War guilt clause for Germany
War reparations – Germany to pay 33 billion
Germany loses territory
Wilson’s tour to save the treaty:8,000 miles, 29 cities, 22 days
A Nervous Wreck 1919
Red Scare 1919
Palmer Raids – campaign against left wing radicals
10,000 arrested Hundreds deported
Palmer
Hoover
Goldman
Election of 1920