Americans debate foreign policy, 1914–17

New technology increase war’s destruction

USA emerge as major world power
War emergency (1917–18) force dramatic
political, economic, social changes at
home
Postwar conflict over continuing changes
or restoring prewar status quo
War and 1919 peace disillusion many

Ch. 23: Americans in the Great

War, 1914–1920
Years of European competition over trade,
colonies, allies, armaments
Germany (Triple Alliance) rival England
(Triple Entente) for world leadership
Many Americans see growing German
power as threat (militarism, autocracy)
Assassination by Serbian nationalist
trigger chain of events in Europe (see
Map 23.1)
Result = war (Central Powers v. Allies)
http://www.the-map-as-history.com/demos/tome06/

I. Outbreak of the First World War

 Wilson proclaim neutrality in war
 Full neutrality not possible
◦ Ethnic groups in USA take sides
◦ Wilson & advisers hold pro-Allied views: see
Germany as threat to civilization
◦ USA-England trade (arms, loans) grow;
USA-German trade drop; Germany see US
trade with England as un-neutral
◦ Wilsonianism = ideas Wilson assume will
spread if Allies win

II. Taking Sides

USA will lead nations toward peaceful
world
World of free trade, capitalism,
democracy, open diplomacy, fewer arms,
& no empires
Wilson proclaim US destiny = save world
Ideals benefit USA; mix idealism with
realism
Wilson willing to impose ideas on others

II. Taking Sides (cont.)

Wilson not want to enter war
USA caught in crossfire between
belligerents
◦ England violates neutral rights by seizing US
cargoes for Germany (take property)
◦ Germany tries to stop US trade with England
via submarines (take lives)
Wilson demand Germany comply with
strict interpretation of international law

III. Violations of Neutral Rights

Lusitania sinking (1915) takes 1198 lives
(128 Americans); contraband (ammo) on
ship
Bryan advocates banning Americans on
belligerent ships, but Wilson rejects it
Wilson asserts US right to sail on any
ships
Bryan resigns; some Americans call him
traitor
Germany halts attacks on passenger ships
after Lusitania, but tensions increase
(Sussex, 1916)

IV. Secretary Bryan’s Resignation

Tonnage of vessels sunk in naval
action in Atlantic, 1916-1918
Many groups fear costs/consequences of war
Movement not unified
Feb. 1917, Germany take calculated risk of
full submarine war (defeat Allies before US
entry)
With Zimmerman Telegram, Wilson see
Germany as threat to US security
Wilson’s response (without Congressional
consent)
◦ Orders U.S. merchant vessels armed
◦ Orders U.S. Navy to fire on German U-Boats

V. Peace Advocates;
Unrestricted Sub Warfare
President Wilson before Congress, announcing the
break in official relations with Germany on
3 February 1917
Wilson accuse Germany of violating
neutral and human rights
War to make “world safe for democracy”
US ideas & interests require German
defeat
By 1917, Wilson assume USA must enter
war to shape peace & postwar world
Wilson get support from preparedness
groups (National Security League)
April 2, 1917--War declared on Germany

VI. War Message and War

Declaration (April, 1917)
Defense Act, Navy Act (1916) start
buildup
Selective Service Act (1917) start draft
4.8 million serve; most draftees in early
20s, white, single, US-born, poorly
educated
400,000 blacks serve; in segregated units
◦ 90% in labor units; those in combat do well
◦ Du Bois & NAACP support war
◦ Hope for change at home after war

VII. The Draft and the Soldier

3 million evade draft
Conscientious objectors face harassment
Pershing insist AEF remains independent of
Allied control, criticizes trench warfare
Machine guns, poison gas, etc. kill huge #s
1 million casualties at Somme, 1916
Many survivors suffer “shell shock” (PTSD)
US men/materials tip balance & end
stalemate

VII. The Draft and the Soldier

(cont.)
Challenges Wilson’s vision of world
Lenin attacks capitalism; wants worker
uprisings
Release secret treaties to embarrass Allies
Wilson respond with 14 Points (1918)
Show Allies as different from Central
Powers
Point #14 calls for League of Nations to
achieve US vision of ideal world order
Lenin makes peace with Germany (early
1918)

VIII. Bolshevik Revolution (1917)

Germany then launches offensive in
the West; Allies halt it
Allies then launch counter-offensive
Germany accepts armistice (Nov.
1918)
◦ 16.6 million die (6.6 million = civilians)
◦ 21.3 million wounded
◦ US losses = 53,000 combat dead (+ 62,000
dead from disease); 200,000 wounded
◦ War destroy European economy & 4
empires

IX. Americans in Battle

 U.S. allies in danger of losing war
◦ Germans sink 881,000 tons of Allied shipping
during April, 1917
◦ Mutinies in French army
◦ British drive in Flanders stalled
◦ Bolsheviks sign separate peace with Germany;
German troops to West
◦ Italian army routed
 Teaming of U.S., English navies halves Allied
losses to submarines
 June 1917--U.S. troops arrive in France
 Spring, 1918--U.S. forces help halt final German
offensive
◦ battle of Chateau Thierry
◦ battle of Belleau Wood
 September, 1918--Germans out of St. Mihiel

“Over There”
US Gov’t intervenes as never before in
economy & society
Form partnership with big business via
dollar-a-year executives on new agencies
W/ cost-plus contracts (guaranteed
profits) & no antitrust acts, big business
get bigger
US Gov’t bureaucracy grow to shift
economy to war-related production

X. Mobilizing the Home Front

Food Administration tries to increase
production and conserve food
Fuel Administration control coal, ration
gas
War Industries Board = largest agency
◦ Make purchases, allocate materials, & set
prices (all on business advice)
◦ WIB order standardization of goods
◦ Economy supply enough men/material to win
◦ Shortages (esp. coal) at home result

XI. Business-Government
Cooperation
USA finances ⅓ of war through taxes
Rest through loans/bonds; US debt rise from
$1 billion (1914) to $25 billion (1919)
War cost $33.5 billion; veteran benefits &
interest on debt triple that figure over time
Corporate profits swell during war to $7
billion
Labor
◦ Benefits from full employment
◦ Suffers rising cost of living (food, fuel, etc.)

XII. Economic Performance

Draft, expanded production, & drop in
immigration create labor crisis
US Gov’t recruits workers from Midwest &
South to northeastern factories, help with
housing
New opportunities for women & blacks
Total # of female workers not grow much
Key change = shift in occupations
Some enter traditionally male factory jobs

XIII. Labor Shortage

Most = single, white, & in clerical jobs
Black women move into openings in
domestic service & textile factories
1,000s volunteer as military nurses/clerks
or work for Red Cross/Salvation Army
Also support mobilization programs
Female support for war help achieve
suffrage (19th Amendment, 1920)

XIII. Labor Shortage (cont.)

Labor shortage accelerates black migration
from rural south to northern cities
500,000 move (1916–1919)
Young, single males seek opportunity
National War Labor Board discourages strikes
and urge management to work with unions
AFL cooperate with US Gov’t in war effort
Not able to stop some workers from striking

XIII. Labor Shortage (cont.)

African American Migration, 191-
1920
 Wilson tries to silence any who
question war
 Result = massive violation of civil
liberties
 CPI seeks mind mobilization with
propaganda
 Demonize Germany
 Urge self-censorship & spy on
neighbors
 Vigilantes harass German-
Americans
 State/local governments,
businesses, & colleges fire
dissenters, ban German culture

XIV. Committee
on Public Information (CPI)
Espionage Act (1917) bans treasonous
(loosely defined) material from mail
Sedition Act (1918) bans criticism of US
Gov’t
US Gov’t crushes IWW, imprisons Debs
Supreme Court upholds 2 Acts
During war, US Gov’t can restrict First
Amendment

XV. Espionage & Sedition Acts

Wartime suppression evolves into postwar
repression of leftists/unions/immigrants
4 million workers strike for better
pay/hours
Opponents label them “Red” to discredit
them
No radical conspiracy
New American Legion demand conformity

XVI. Red Scare; Labor Strikes

(1919)
Attorney General harasses alleged radicals
State/local governments, vigilantes copy him
His assistant, Hoover, arrests 4,000 people
(1920) without search warrants; deny them
legal counsel
A. G. Palmer’s excesses slowly offend public
To topple Soviets, Wilson sends in troops
(1918)
Arm opponents, impose embargo, refuse
recognition, & ban USSR from diplomacy

XVII. Palmer Raids; Wilson’s Anti-

Bolshevism
Despite participation in war, blacks still
suffer discrimination & violence
KKK revive; lynching continues
Race riots occur (Chicago, 1919) as
northern whites resist “Negro invasion”
Continuing racism disillusions Du Bois
Growing militancy among black veterans
& African Americans in northern cities

XVIII. Racial Unrest

Wilson ignores Republican majority in
Congress
Allies seek harsh peace and spoils of war
Wilson not follow or achieve 14 Points in
Paris
Wilson accepts huge reparations/war guilt on
Germany
Allies gain colonies (mandates) from losers
◦ British: Iraq, Palestine
◦ French: Syria, Lebanon
Create anti-Soviet nations in Eastern Europe

XIX. Peace Conference &

Obstacles to Wilson’s Plan
League = Wilson’s top goal in Paris
Centerpiece for new world order
All nations have a vote in Assembly
Major powers control League via Council
Article 10 calls for collective security
Joint action to preserve status
quo/prevent war
Wilson exempts Monroe Doctrine &
domestic matters from League action

XX. League of Nations & Article 10

  Some balk at Wilson’s
concessions (14 Points)
 Conservatives fear
Article 10 will limit US
action, stop US
expansion, pull USA into
war
 Lodge propose
reservations, esp. Article
10
 Wilson lambastes critics
 Collapses with stroke;
refuse to compromise
 Senate reject treaty
(1919-1920)
 With reservations, treaty
would have passed

XXI. Critics of the Treaty

Would USA swap traditional unilateralism for
collection action? Core issue for critics
Want freedom of action in imperialist world
US economic & military power grow
Postwar international system not stable
Nationalists want independence
New East European nations weak
Germany, USSR want revenge & expansion

http://www.the-map-as-history.com/demos/tome03/

XXII. An Unsafe World